Defiance
by flaming-couches
Summary: After multiple genocide runs in a row, Flowey has had enough of the endless killing. In an effort to change the way the human chooses to go, he and Sans break the script and organize a massive army of every monster in the Underground to turn Chara down a better path and save Frisk. (My first story. Rated T for violence and some swearing here and there by Chara. Hope you enjoy!)
1. Prologue (Edited)

**Hey guys! Welcome to my very first fanfiction! I hope you enjoy your stay, and be sure to leave a review to help me improve my writing. Constructive criticism is accepted and encouraged. If you catch any grammatical errors, please let me know. If you're new, you're in for a bit of a treat, I think. I'm pretty happy with what I've done here so far.  
**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **Prologue**

"See? I never betrayed you!"

"It was all a trick, see?"

"I was waiting to kill him for you!"

"After all, it's me, your best friend!"

"I'm helpful, I can be useful to you!"

"I promise I won't get in your way!"

 _"I can help…"_

 _"I can…"_

 _"I can…"_

 ** _"Please don't kill me."_**

Those were the last words Flowey remembered speaking to Chara on that first genocide. That scene didn't end well: they had heartlessly, mercilessly, _emotionlessly,_ sliced them in half and ground them into oblivion.

The words he had said them on the next several resets hadn't been much different. More or less, he had tried to gain an alliance with Chara in their dustthirsty drive to kill everyone over and over again.

Flowey frowned, seriously reflecting upon these memories now, sitting in that small patch of grass where he always first met them after a new beginning. Over the course of five resets, they had coldly thrust their knife, their pan, notebook - heck, you name it - into every single monster they hunted and found, leaving nobody behind. Over the course of the last five resets, they had taken down almost every monster, weak or strong, in little more than a few, quick blows, and destroying the entire universe at the end of it to eliminate anyone remaining.

Flowey was having a hard time remembering what it was like for the world not to be so dusty.

He had a _very_ hard time believing at this point that he was the most soulless, cold-hearted being in the Underground.

And… He had a hard time believing that… He couldn't do _something_ about it.

Do _something_ about this endless, repetitious genocide that only a select few could really recognize was occurring.

He wasn't the only one who seemed to have character changes from their ability to remember, either. He had definitely been observing some very significant changes throughout each reset from the Smiley Trashbag. From dueling them down in a final battle to the death the first three times, to trying to save his brother (who did the same when he sacrificed himself doing so), to sheer apathy and refusal to fight this last run-through.

Flowey decided, in those first few minutes of the 6th Genocidal reset in a row, that he… He had had enough of this. Of this endless genocide that made his world a horrid, nightmarish, dismal place.

Chara had betrayed him for her own desires countless times. She never really had been a nice person in the first place. For all he had done for her, back when they were but children and not… _soulless beings,_ she had never done any favors in return.

He decided to leave the villain's denied side, and defeat them once and for all.

Well, that might be impossible due to their determination. But, if planned right, maybe… Maybe they could overcome it, control it, turn it another direction.

Flowey remembered that first merciful reset, shortly before he absorbed every soul in the underground. He remembered living monster coming to defend Frisk against him when he had tried to kill them.

What if…

What if they could come to _his_ aid? To save the one, the truly merciful one, under the control and manipulation of the one he had called his childhood friend?

He let that sink in. Having all the monsters in the underground come to his aid in the denial, the resistance, the _saving_ of a genocidal enemy of which could rewind time and avoid a permanent death.

He- ...No… Impossible. He was incapable of any positive emotion, but he couldn't seem to deny it.

The thought filled him with Excitement. Relief. Anticipation.

The realization that this had caused these emotions… When nothing else had…

 **[*It filled him with Determination.]**

But the excitement from the realization faltered shortly, as there was a lot of work to do if he wished to stop Chara before they got far. The closest point to the start where everyone could meet in an ultimate blockade, Chara had as little of a chance to acquire LOVE as possible, was the door to the ruins. But people wouldn't believe him if he didn't have proof to back his claims. A few people, as he had learned through his own resets before the final human fell, had such evidence he could use to his advantage. And the first to go find would be the one who knew what he was going through the most.

More confident and determined in his actions than he had been in a long time, Flowey burrowed into the earth, and set off to find Sans.

* * *

 **Welp, there's the prologue for you. It was a bit shorter than I would have liked, to be honest, but I honestly couldn't find any more ways to extend it further. Hopefully I can do better in the first actual chapter. I'm trying to aim for at least 2K words per chapter, because I find that usually with less, it's just too short to really be good.**

 **Again, constructive criticism is very much encouraged. I enjoy reading your feedback.**

 **Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next time!**


	2. Chapter 1: Recovery (Edited)

**When I originally wrote this chapter, I was surprised at how many views it got immediately. I now realize that 30 views and 2 follows and favorites is actually not very much. Either way, I was honored even for such a miniscule amount. I thank you for continuing to read this anyhow.**

 **Also, I'll have everyone know that the update schedule for this story doesn't exist. I will most likely work on chapters over the week and on weekends, and publish a new one whenever they are finished, likely one every weekend or earlier.**

 **With that little info having been provided, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **Recovery**

Sans mentally sighed as he sold his hotdogs and hot cats to passerby monsters. The recent resets had seriously taken a toll on his energy. He could barely even keep a cheerful smile as many customers passed through. To have such a curse as to remember every reset that occurred was torture.

What a dismal, dull set of resets. If only the people around him knew of the chaos that would ensue in such a short period of time. They really were right about beginning to call the winged circle on the delta rune the "Angel of Death."

Though… At this point, the kid was hardly an angel. At least, they hadn't been recently. It almost seemed as if they had a double-sided personality, and the cruel one had won out on them and was now endlessly killing the underground over and over.

He had tried to fight it, but how can you stop someone who returns from the grave, rejuvenated and fresh? They persisted on and on, and he became too tired after a while to persevere in return. In short, he had given up.

What was the point in trying when all your efforts were worthless, and erased with each reset?

How that kid didn't get bored of slaughter, he could not understand. If they could do that and take pleasure from it time and time again…. God, humans really were cold-hearted.

The path seemed to have gone quiet for the time being, so Sans took some time to close it up for a bit and take a short break. He took a shortcut to the lone bench in Waterfall and sat down, face in his hands. He needed some time to be alone.

 _I just wasn't ready for the responsibility…_ the echo flower whispered this at him, over and over. It was right, he was unprepared for the responsibility of handling Frisk. This was why he never made promises, because he could never keep them.

If only there was something else that could be done to prevent the kid from doing their genocide. But he had tried everything he could really think of - in this state of mind - and they had just barreled through it with endless amounts of determination.

Damned determination… No matter the source, it always seems to be ruining his life. That weed who called himself Flowey had messed with him before they had come along and before that… Chara was messing around with the timeline too, and broke the entire underground when they stole the prince Asriel to the surface and came back as dust.

And before they had come along, it was the entire damned dustthirsty human race that massacred the monsters and drove them down here.

What a hopeless, dismal world where the ones who are genuinely kind are the underdogs. Why couldn't it be the other way around…?

It took him a long moment to realize there was a vine tapping his shoulder. Lazily slapping it away, he turned to see yours truly next to the echo flower, looking at him with a serious look on his face. Sans sighed, and turned away without much care.

"what do you want, weed?"

Flowey harrumphed. "The very same thing I know you want, deep down. I know that we've tried, but we need more help."

Sans sighed again, not really caring towards that anymore. "what's the point? the kid's determination is stronger than anything down here, regardless of any and all efforts to resist. you should know that better than anyone."

"That may be true, but we've never really tried an organized attack. It's always just a one-on-one, or two or three monsters at most at a time. Have you ever considered that Souls are stronger together?"

Sans mentally stepped back from it and reassessed the whole ordeal. Yes, Flowey was right. It had always been one-on-one duels to the death. But even if there were more, it was still no match for their determination. "true, but the true winner is always gonna be the kid. even if we did somehow get some of the monsters to fight together, you can't beat the power to change fate."

"That's not my goal, idiot. Of course we can't do that, I know it well enough myself." Flowey paused, changing the tone his voice brought on. "Do you remember that first pacifist timeline they went through? At the very end, shortly before "everything went white," as the old lady said?"

Sans remembered well enough. It was the one thing keeping him going through this genocide. He remembered the looks of happiness, admirance, relief and joy he got from them as he and others protected them from harm of the weed.

"After I absorbed every single soul in the underground, I had enough determination to completely reset everything, if I defeated them once and for all. But through the power and support of all their friends, they controlled my power and channeled it to destroy the barrier instead."

Sans had not heard this side of the story before. Was that what had been going on while the kid was unconscious? He had never found out.

"What I'm trying to get at here is that determination may be able to control fate, but it isn't impenetrable itself. They got quite discouraged for a while when fighting you. I think it took a good 50 loads just to defeat you alone."

Come to think about it… They had. His words had almost turned them around once or twice, along with the bad time he gave them. Sans turned back to Flowey, a new interest in his eyelights. "so what are you trying to accomplish, then?"

"Exactly that. I want to try and shift their ways by discouraging them enough that their determination falters and causes them to reset completely and change their moral code."

Sans was beginning to see where Flowey was going with this. With him providing a new hope, a new way out of this darkness for everyone, he was now looking upon him with a new awe. The realization that there was still hope left…

 **[*It filled him with Patience.]**

"Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses here. I know them all, and how they could play off each other. If we can gather everybody at the start to the ruins to let Chara gain as little LOVE as possible, we could hold them there for long enough to potentially change their ways and give us an easier time."

"wait… chara? the kid's name is frisk."

"Don't you know? They're possessed by Chara during these genocide runs. It's why they are so unpredictable from reset to reset."

Well, that explained a lot for him. "and just how exactly are you gonna get every monster to come to the ruins to wait for them to show up?"

Flowey smiled, pleased that he had Sans on his side now. "I have a plan, and it starts with getting some evidence that these resets do exist." He started to burrow into the ground, but paused. "Meet me in front of Alphys' lab, will you? She's the one I want to start with."

Flowey vanished, and Sans got up to follow him. Shortly before taking a shortcut, he paused, having an idea. He reached under the bench and took the quiche that he had left there so long ago. Who knows, he might need it. He bent over to the echo flower, and said:

"I've decided I'm ready for the responsibility."

* * *

 **Well, there's the first chapter, everybody. Thank you again for your support, I seriously do appreciate it. As always, constructive criticism and suggestions are taken very well. Even if you have none, be sure to leave a review of what you think.**

 **But that's all for now.**

 **Thank you guys for reading, and I'll see you all next time!**


	3. Chapter 2: Exposure of Secrets

**I apologize for not writing this sooner. I kinda had a bit of a writer's block last week, plus I was occupied with other things.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews and compliments however. I'm honored to have such nice feedback.**

 **With all that being said, enjoy the new chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **Exposure of Secrets**

Despite his ability to take shortcuts from place to place, it seemed to Flowey that Sans took too long to arrive in front of Alphys' Laboratory. He appeared from the elevator nearby with his usual lazy walk, but there seemed a little more to it. Maybe… Some effort? An actual caring?

"so what do you actually want to get out of alphys here? there's so much different research it might be hard to find."

"I want to see the research she did on determination. She probably has a few notes in there about time travel, whether they were by her, you… Or them."

"you knew I worked here for some time?"

Flowey looked over, incredulous. "Are you enough of an idiot to not realize I know almost everything?"

"touché. so what do you need me for?"

"Other than in previous resets, she's never met me before. For a start, I need you to help me explain what I need and what exactly is going on."

"can do," Sans said with a short knock on the door. "knock knock."

A flurry of papers was faintly heard through the door as she was startled, before some approaching footsteps. "Wh...who's there?"

"weed."

"Hey!" Flowey whisper-shouted, slapping him on the arm lightly with a vine. Having already been exasperated for him using a knock-knock joke to start it off, he would have hit him harder had he not needed him, despite his low HP, for this, but he was so fragile he didn't want to take any chances.

"W-w-weed who?"

"weed need to talk. literally."

"W-what do you-" Alphys began to open the giant metal door as she said this, but stopped short upon seeing Sans. "S-Sans?! I… I thought y-you were done here!"

"I was. I still am." He gestured to Flowey, who had positioned himself over next to the door frame. "but it would seem we would need your help to try to save the world from a future crisis."

"I… I… w-What?!" Alphys was completely bewildered at the entire scene, overwhelmed by the somewhat familiar identities she never thought she'd see this way again while proposing her with a new problem. Completely confused, she rushed back inside, calling back that she needed a minute.

Sans sighed. "maybe that wasn't the best way to first bring her into this."

"You think?" Flowey scoffed, frustrated at how this was going. He wanted this to go a bit more smoothly. Ah, if only he could still load and reset. Though, he doubted that would help much of anything.

A few minutes later, Alphys returned, a little more nervous but less overwhelmed this time. "O-okay, I th-think I've calmed myself d-down enough to talk. W-w-what did you want?"

"remember this? the soul vessel?"

"I would appreciate it if you didn't refer to me that way," Flowey returned, irritated.

"Y-Yeah, I do. It actually worked? I-I never saw it again a-after f-first adding determination."

"more than that. it seems that we've both been having some things occur for us that nobody else really knows about." Sans glanced over her shoulder slightly, glancing at the elevator to the True Lab. "some of these things, like what flowey knows here, are related to notes that you've made in the real lab. would you care to take us there to talk? many lives of people are depending upon it."

"Uh, well, I-I mean- y-you already know about w-what's down there, b-b-but what about him?" She glanced at Flowey, unsure of what to make of him yet.

Flowey snorted, amused. "Believe me, I know more about what's down there than you do."

Alphys was taken back by this, but calmed herself shortly again. "A-alright, I m-might be able to… h-help you with what you need. C-come with me."

"I can't exactly just follow you, so I'll see you down there." Flowey burrowed into the ground, heading off to appear down at the bottom of the elevator at the true lab.

Searching around while he waited for them to arrive, he found the first panel about determination.

ENTRY NUMBER 5: I've done it. Using the blueprints, I've extracted it from the human souls. I think this is what gives the SOULs the strength to persist after death. The will to keep living… The resolve to change fate. Let's call this power… **_Determination._**

This entry in particular, Flowey had wanted to study and explain more about. It was indeed true, the desire to change fate was strong in someone (or something) that held Determination. So strong, in some cases, that it could rewind time and very well rewrite events without anyone having memory of it.

It was because people like him and Chara who abused that power that the world went through these kinds of problems. A slight pang of guilt went through him as he realized this, as he had done deeds similar of evil to the world back in his days of power. To think that Sans had remembered all of that… No wonder he's always so apathetic.

Ah, well. At the very least, he knows everyone's strengths and weaknesses from it. That would certainly help in this reset.

At the sound of the elevator opening nearby, he turned and watched as Sans and Alphys exited and approached. Flowey produced a vine and pointed at the screen he was in front of. "Remember writing this, Alphys?"

Alphys paused, seemingly trying to remember. "Odd… I… I remember d-doing the procedure, b-but I don't recall writing it." She turned to Sans. "D-Did you put this down?"

"not that I can remember, I don't use capital letters like that. hmmm…. maybe….?"

Flowey was surprised at this exchange. Even though he was aware that this was written before…. _That_ had happened, he had assumed Alphys would have thought she had written it herself.

"Either way," he continued, getting their attention, "as seen here, Determination is what allows humans to persist after death, as we all know. But it can do more than that, as you've learned." He pointed a vine down the hall, where the rest of the lab was and the Amalgamates were residing. "It can cause a monster or human to return from a near-death state."

"Y-yeah, that's right. B-But th-this is stuff that I already know. Why are you reviewing it with me?"

"It's just a little fresh look at everything you remember, don't worry. Now, if someone has enough determination, like the amount you gave me, they can actually return from death by rewinding time and trying the last few events again."

"R-really? So you can, uh, r-revive yourself and try again if one of us w-were to kill you?"

"Not anymore. You see, only the one with the most determination has this power, and can return from death to attempt again. For a while, I was the one to possess this, and so I could do what I wanted with this world. I've read every book. I've burned every book. I've won every game. I've lost every game. I've helped everyone, and I've killed everyone. So because of this, there's almost nothing I don't know about this world anymore."

"B-b-but even if it were true, everyone here w-would have remembered, and we'd all know, r-right? H-how come you can't d-do it now?"

"but that's the thing, most of us don't. only those of us who have been able to reset are capable of remembering… and a seldom few exceptions, such as me." Sans sighed.

"The reason I've lost that ability is because, in fact, at this very instant there is a human in the Ruins. They have-"

"R-really? Th-there is? W-w-we can return to the surface soon?" Alphys began to get excited, but Flowey held a vine over their lips to shush them.

"Remember, determination? They are physically incapable of dying unless you have someone who holds more determination than them." Flowey retracted his vine as he continued. "But they are the very reason that we need your assistance. The past 4 or 5 resets they have gone through leaving not a soul behind, and destroying the entire universe at the end of their journey to Asgore." He sighed, finally having put it out there.

Alphys pondered this for a long while, before finally speaking. "W-w-what do you need me for? I'm n-no good at fighting."

"no, but we came to you first because you have the most proof of this occurrence. determination is the resolve to change fate, and if it's strong enough it can change the fate of others as well. having evidence of this as well as the crisis at hand can help us unite the monsters in a way that may drive the kiddo down a better path."

"We think that if we let them gain as little LOVE as possible, and give them as much of a bad time as possible, we may cause their determination to falter and drive them towards a better path to victory."

"can you help us out here, alph?"

Alphys paused, very ponderous. Flowey could tell that she was thinking this could be her chance to be part of an adventure. He knew she had always wanted to, which was why she had assisted Frisk during their pacifist adventures through. This, however, was a completely different story, and nobody would remember it except Sans and Flowey, and Chara/Frisk. Would she accept the offer? He saw on her face that she was thinking hard. After a long while, she seemed to have come to a conclusion.

"W-w-what do you want me to do?"


	4. Chapter 3: Broadcast

I apologize so much for not posting this sooner. It's mostly repeated information to new characters so it wasn't all that exciting to write. Fortunately that's the last of it, so my no-schedule schedule should be a little more frequent than every three months for this point forward.

In the meantime, enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 3

Broadcast

"Tra la la. The waters are wild today. That's bad luck…"

Bad luck indeed, Grillby crackled nervously to himself as the River Person took them swiftly down the river towards Hotland. He had a reason to be nervous, of course, as the water would instantly turn him to dust should he fall in. Aquaphobia was natural for fire elementals such as him.

Though, there was more reason to be nervous than that. There was the reason for which he was traveling from Snowdin, as he almost never did due to the dangerous conditions of travel for his kind. He, as apparently every monster capable of combat, had been called to the capital by Asgore for an urgent meeting called for seemingly no reason known to anyone. Not only was the lack of a known reason surprising, but so was the act. Asgore _never_ called urgent meetings, or generally any meetings at all. Chances were high it was something very, very important, and Grillby was not looking forward to it at all.

"Tra la la, here we are." The River person brought the dog-boat to a stop when they reached the landing. Nodding a thanks, Grillby stepped of eagerly and tossed the mysterious monster 5G for the transportation.

However, they did not turn their attention to it as it clinked uselessly off the side of the boat into the water.

"Keep the money rightfully yours. You will need it later."

Grillby cocked his head in confusion, crackling with a slight curiosity, but they did not reply. "Come again some time. Tra la la."

With that, they sailed off in the direction of the Core. Grillby sighed, or as much as a fire elemental can sigh, shaking his head as he headed for the elevator, putting his hands in his pockets only to find the money had returned to it. What? He took them out and examined them, to find they were indeed the coins he had tossed, and they were perfectly dry. He thought he had lost them in the river…? Well, they had said to keep the change, and the price was free.

Grillby shook his head again in confusion, putting them back in his pocket as he called the elevator. That was a strange monster there. He'd have to come back and try and loosen up some of that mystery around the monster later. For now, he had places to be.

Ah, Hotland. It was good to be back home again. He missed his birthplace. Despite having been around since the war, the lava cores of Ebott were actually where he had been created. It was good to be back in his homeland; he felt more at power here.

The elevator arrived, and he stepped inside and hit the button to take him to the very top, where MTT resort and the elevator to the capital were located. Shortly after, the doors opened and he walked the short distance to the MTT resort to once again wait for an elevator.

After some time traveling, he finally ended up in the building at the Capital where the meeting was to take place. Glancing around as he went in, he observed many new and familiar monsters around. Many of the royal guards were around and about, alongside younger retired veterans of the war. Other stronger monsters were around as well, a few of which he caught their names; Muffet, a spider lady who baked goods and had the unique ability to change souls to purple, Mettaton, a robot star he had not known about, and a few others. Surprisingly, he found Sans here. He didn't expect Sans to actually not be lazy enough to visit.

After a few minutes of mingling and meeting up with some old friends he hadn't seen in a while, most monsters expected had arrived, and Asgore stood at the podium and asked everyone to take their seats.

"Good evening, everyone. I am happy you were able to participate today, as this seems to be a very urgent meeting."

"Seems to be?" Undyne questioned, rising slightly from her "Reserved - Royal Guard Captain" seat. "Do you not know the reason that you called this meeting?" She paused. "Don't tell me it was just for tea."

Asgore sighed, shaking his head. "I am afraid that I did not call this meeting myself. I was requested by a few people to call it together for them. They did not say their purpose for it, but I was assured that it was direly important to our future." He furrowed his brow upon saying this, but gestured to several exclusively reserved seats near the podium, of which sat Sans and Alphys. Sans appeared to be holding a flower pot with a golden flower in it. "Those of you who, indeed, do have hands, please give them up for our royal scientist and a retired partner, as well as their experiment: Sans, Alphys and Flowey."

The various sounds of applause were heard as they rose and stepped up to the stage. Asgore stood aside to let them take forth from there.

Meanwhile, Grillby was quite astonished at this active behavior from Sans. He was quite surprised to see him even at this meeting, not to mention hosting it. Knowing him quite well at the bar, he loved slacking off and doing as little as physically possible. This was quite out of his character. Heh, not that that was a bad thing, he supposed. He wondered for a moment what inspired him to up his activity on this matter.

"good evening, everybody. I am very glad that you were all able to participate in this, as we shortly will need all the help that we can possibly get." Before anyone could question, he rose his hand in silence. "we will explain in due time, don't worry. we have some very important things that need to be discussed before we can allow you to fully understand and believe what we will say."

Alphys stepped forward, a little nervous, and Sans stepped politely to the side to let her speak. "One of th-the first things that we need to discuss, primarily, is the subject of determination. D-determination is the desire to persist, the resolve t-to change the fate of the person."

The flower, presumably Flowey, spoke up. "Monsters do not have determination in most cases, as we are mostly made of magic. That is a trait reserved for Human Souls, like many we already know of, such as bravery, kindness, patience, and so on."

"during the time I was assistant to the royal scientist, we had worked to experiment with using determination in monsters, and objects that did not have it at first."

"Is that what I was called for that one day, Alphys? You tried giving me some determination? How come nobody knew about this?"

Alphys blushed, a little uncomfortable to be releasing this information despite the importance. "Th-this was all very t-top secret information that only a f-f-few people knew about for… r-reasons. B-but yes, we did experiment on you after s-some other monsters that h-had fallen down h-had been… t-tested."

"but that is beside our point. our main point in determination is that a person or monster can be so determined to accomplish their goal that they can bring themselves back from a near-death state, or even from the brink of death."

Flowey coughed slightly. "And if a human or monster, or something else, like me, has enough determination, they can even rewind time."

The podium went silent after this, letting everyone consider this new data. Many moments of thoughtful quiet went by before someone spoke up.

It gave Grillby some time to absorb and consider all of Sans's actions recently, and all the feelings he had been getting for quite a while of deja vu. Considering what he knew about Sans, he could see what they would probably saying next. Most of the monsters would be incapable of remembering these time rewindings, and at least one of the three talking would be an exception.

Sans continued. "and, I am sorry to say, there indeed is a human with this ability in the underground. they have been exploiting their power to kill everybody here, rewinding time to do it over again and again for their own amusement. we have brought you all together to put a stop to it."

A monster spoke up. "Flowey, if you said you have this ability, aren't you able to prevent them from doing this yourself?"

Flowey sighed. "Only the soul with the most determination is able to use the save. The human has more than me, and I can't take that control without the six human souls already here. Even then, they have defeated me before and dominated the monstrosity that I became. Individually, they are unstoppable."

"Then why are we all called here, if it's useless?"

"we still have one last hope," Sans said, stepping forward. "every time they have fought someone, it's been one-on-one, or a party of two or three at best. all of them individual sticks, easy to snap and add to the fire, so to speak."

"We've called you here to fight them as a team. Yes, they can reset. Yes, they can try as many times as they wish. But, they have deterred from their paths before. They aren't unshakable. In fact, without their power, they are actually quite weak."

"F-from what I've been told, Undyne, when they f-fought you in your… Your undying form, th-the one given to you through d-determination… It took them at l-least…. Uhm… Uh… F-f-fifty tries."

"what we're saying is, we don't want to defeat them, because that'd be impossible. we're trying to route them onto a better, not-so-hard-to-beat path. so that, perhaps, in another time…"

"Wecan all go to the surface and live happy lives where nobody dies."

They paused, letting all sink in. Grillby was quite surprised at the info of the final human being in the underground. From what he had heard, this task seems extremely dangerous, but critical to the survival of monsters, and possibly the entire universe. Daring himself, he decided to speak in the silence.

"...Where can we start?"

Flowey smiled. "The door to the ruins is the place where we can catch them the weakest. Now, I'd like everyone here to listen very closely. We all are good in different areas of our combat, and I'd like to discuss with everyone how we'll all work together to keep each other alive…"

* * *

The chapters are getting progressively longer… That's good, right? It's my goal, so I suppose so. They're almost too short as it is, it's hard to tolerate.

Ah, well. How it comes out is how it comes out. It's not extremely important.

Also, if the view/visitor count is anything to go by, this story has been getting a significant amount of attention. At the time I'm writing this a/n, it's almost at 800 views with just three separate sections. I'm not sure if this is good or normal, but I'm honored and happy that so many people like reading this, despite the absence. Since the repeated stuff is over now, I feel I'll probably be more inspired to write more chapters from this point forward. Thank you so much for taking your time.

Also, don't hesitate to say what you think by writing a review. I take all compliments and criticism to heart, so don't be shy if you're holding back.

OKAY! THAT'S ENOUGH TALKING! I'LL BE AT HOME WRITING A NEW CHAPTER! FEEL FREE TO COME BY AND VIEW IT WHEN IT'S FINISHED! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!


	5. Chapter 4: Testing

**YOU CAME BACK TO READ THE NEW CHAPTER! YOU MUST BE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT THIS… I'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOU SOMEPLACE REALLY SPECIAL… SOMEPLACE I DON'T LIKE TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME!**

 **MY PROFILE! NYEH HEH HEH!**

 **Lel, just kidding. Don't go viewing my profile unless you absolutely want to, there's literally nothing there other than this story.**

 **Aaanyways, enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 4

Testing

Undyne prepared herself for a training session with current and retired Royal Guards that would be occurring in the next few minutes. Armour donned… Magic capacity at maximum… Hair straightened. Check, check, check. She was physically ready.

Mentally, she was not. She was concerned for many of these guards. There was a good chance that many of their lives would be lost in the upcoming battle. If the human persevered enough, they could potentially get past the well-structured defense arranged by Flowey, and then the rest of the underground would be done for. The only hope was to hold out longer than them, and that seemed like a difficult thing to accomplish.

Undyne took a deep breath, concentrating on the feeling that constantly flowed through her these days. It had been there since Alphys had tested that on her, but now she had a name for it. Feeling confident in her determination holding out longer than the human's, Undyne finished preparing herself, and left her home to go outside where all the Royal Guards were waiting for the training session.

She was still somewhat surprised at the massive amounts of people in her front yard area at the current moment, even though she had trained several at a time before. Twenty Royal Guards and the Dogs, the entire squad of them, as well as Grillby, Sans, and Papyrus, among several others, all of which were either retired or in-training. Other strong boss monsters were attending too, many of which were at the meeting 24 hours ago. She had gotten the name Muffet for a spider lady Alphys had told her about, who was here. Mettaton, who she had met before, was also present. Many weaker monsters, such as Aaron and Whimsalot, among other strong monsters of similar trait or origin were also going to be training. Of course, Asgore was attending as well. No big surprise there.

Still slightly concerned, Undyne took another breath to orient herself in the present, and not in the future.

You can do this.

It'll all go fine.

It's just another training session with a significant more amount of people.

And a much bigger purpose.

Finally fully ready, Undyne took a step forward, summoning a spear and twirling it through the air to get everyone's attention. "Alright, punks! The training session is starting! The purpose of this is to make sure that everyone's skilled at using their abilities to the best they can, and also to confirm what that flower said the other day about our abilities each individually having special roles in this upcoming fight with the human." She pointed at Mad Dummy, who was over on her training carpet, glaring at everyone. He had possession of a dummy soul as well, so none of the attacks would harm him directly and risk turning him to dust. "We'll be using this dummy soul to test our attacks and prove our worth in the battlefield. We will be able to see how much damage is inflicted and confirm where you stand. As a demonstration, I will go first."

Undyne, having finished her explanation, turned and struck the dummy with three quick spears. Each one did 5 damage, a significant amount for a human with less than 30 HP. Turning the dummy soul green, she then sent many spears, both direct and reverse, at it. The shield given blocked some of them, but most of them still hit, dealing 4 damage each. Undyne grinned, satisfied.

"Alright, you know the drill now. Show me what you've got!" Undyne pointed her spear at Doggo. "You first, Doggo. I'll have the dummy move around so you can see it and attack."

Doggo's basic scanning attack was pretty weak, but once he identified the location of the soul he began to unleash a barrage of knives at it, each of them doing 4 each. They appeared very difficult to dodge in a standard battle box.

Undyne nodded. "That's good enough, Doggo. You're dismissed, and can leave or watch the others and see who you'll be with." She then pointed at the dog couple, Dogaressa and Dogamy. "You two! Let's see what you two have up your sleeve you've held for us this whole time!"

The dogs had a stronger attack that was significantly faster axes, and the hearts they send to each other are in a random formation and spin much faster.

Undyne held up a hand, impressed. "You're good to go. Lesser Dog, you're up!"

Flowey checked further into the Ruins, trying to find where Chara was at. She appeared to be taking her time at the pillar, surprisingly. Perhaps she was taking a break, a rest before her next killing spree. That seemed unlikely, however, knowing them in their current state.

After observing closer, Flowey concluded he was right: they aren't just taking a simple break. In fact, it almost seemed as though Frisk was trying to regain control. The body they shared seemed to be changing personalities rapidly, each trying to dominate the other constantly. Neither seemed intent on stopping soon.

Flowey felt bad for Frisk. Having a double personality in your soul must be as bad as having none in the first place. He vowed to himself to make this right and abolish Chara from genocide routes.

Popping up near the what-seemed-to-be seizuring Frisk, he began to speak. "Hey… Chara. I just thought I'd let you know… I've had enough of this. This… This endless genocide. And I'm going to have to put a stop to it. So, if you don't reset and do a good soon… I'm going to have to force you to change your morals." He paused for a moment, looking for a way to say bye. "Stay determined, Frisk. You can hold through this. I believe in you."

And with that, he disappeared into the ground to watch from a distance.

At long last, the main Royal Guards were all cleared. Each and every one was in peak condition of performance in a battle scenario, and some were doing even better than she had ever seen them. Undyne was quite satisfied. By this time Sans was taking a nap, and many of the other monsters were chatting amongst themselves.

"Alright! Now that the main team is completed, we will be moving on to those who are veterans or in-training!" Undyne pointed to Sans. "Sans! Wake up and ready yourself to do your best! I want to see your strongest attack now!"

Sans opened one eye. "I dunno if you really want to see my strongest attack. to be sure, it's definitely a bone-a fide weapon, but it could be mind breaking."

Undyne growled. "No games right now, Sans! This is serious! Step up and show us what you got!"

Sans chuckled, and lifted himself from the wall he was leaning on. Casually walking over to the dummy, he summoned a single, tiny bone. Flicking it away, it slowly sailed past the soul, off into the distance. Undyne and many others watched it as it flew away, clearly not impressed. But suddenly they heard quite a commotion over by the dummy. When turning to look, Sans had thrust the soul to the ground, producing bones from the ground as he did so. He then sent a wave of bones that looked very difficult to dodge, before firing what appeared to be a bunch of giant dog skulls that would have blasted the soul to pieces if it were possible.

When the smoke cleared, Undyne checked the damage done, wide-eyed. It appeared he had done over 100 HP, and it was also slowly draining for another 300. He was much stronger than they thought he could be.

"...Alright… Uh… You're fine, Sans. You can watch further if you wish." Regaining composure after the shock, she pointed to Grillby. "Grills! It's been awhile since I've seen you fight. Remind me what you're capable of!"

Grillby stepped forward, looking quite intimidating in his ancient molten core armor. He summoned a couple small flames around his hand, before casting them to the soul. Suddenly, it turned orange.

Undyne was quite startled. She had read about the different soul color changes, and orange was one that was quite rare. It was very similar to green in that it uses a shield, but it only appears when the soul is moving, and in the direction it is moving. It makes for some very interesting fights, but was very very difficult to learn and master control of. Grillby hadn't learned how to cast it last time she was around.

To demonstrate the functions of the orange soul, Grillby cast a wall of flames at the soul. When the soul moved towards it, it didn't take damage, but otherwise it did. Each particle of flame that hit without invincibility time dealt 4 damage, and two extra for a burn. A unique ability even Asgore didn't have.

After simple demonstrations of orange soul functions, Grillby began an elaborate pattern of flames that circled around him, slowly expanding outward while orbiting quickly in reversing directions. It appeared to be very hard to dodge, even with an orange soul since it was an assault from both directions at once.

Quite impressed, Undyne nodded, giving him a thumbs up. "You're at peak condition if I've ever seen it, Grillby. You're cleared." She turned to Papyrus. "Paps, I've been told that you're gonna be better at healing than fighting, despite how strong you are. Test your skills on the dummy for me."

"YES, UNDYNE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE THE BEST HEALER ON THE TEAM!"

After striking a heroic pose, Papyrus began to send green bones towards the soul, which now represented an injured monster's soul. No matter the size, they all healed 20 HP each. Quite significant for some monsters; fairly small for others. However, he could send quite a lot before getting tired, so there wasn't much worry.

Undyne nodded, satisfied and not too surprised since she knew his capabilities. "Good healing, Paps. I'm sure you'll help out a lot." She looked over to the next veteran, shouting for him to come forward and demonstrate.

The rest of the training session continued this way, and it took quite a while to get through everybody. By the time everyone had finished and been dismissed, Undyne was exhausted.

As she leaned up on the side of the house, she observed a pang of fear still resided deep in her soul. What if this assault failed? What if the human was determined enough to get by the attacks they brought forth? She sighed, evidently tired.

"somethin' botherin' ya?" Sans had not left with his brother and everyone else, and detected her fear. He could sniff out emotions like a bloodhound. Undyne always wondered where he had gotten that ability… And his other seemingly-endless stream of attacks.

She shook her head, baffled at his skill. "I'm just worried that this will all fail, even if we do try to stop them. What if their determination will hold out to the point at which they kill us all? Where will we be then?"

"hey, don't worry about it, undyne. if they do manage to defeat us, me and the weed will probably try to find another way to put them down, redirect them on a better route. and even before that, I have a little surprise in store too."

Undyne snorted. "Let me guess, your special attack?" Undyne had seen his special attack. It was interesting how he just never ends his turn, although you can break the rules and make a move on his turn in consequence of it.

Sans paused in reply. "yeah. let's call it that." He got up from where he was sitting, and gave her a salute and a wink. "well, be seeing you around." And with that, he left.

Undyne went inside to make some tea and get out of her heavy armor. After a long day of shouting at underdogs (no pun intended), she needed to rest.

As the water boiled, she got a call from Alphys. Expecting it to be important, she grabbed her phone and answered it. "Hey, Alphys! What's up?"

"O-oh! H-h-hey! I just wanted t-t-to let you know… that… um… Flowey got b-back and told me... the human is about halfway through the R-ruins."

"Really?" Undyne took the water off the stove and added some of her favorite tea to it. "Well, the Ruins never were very big anyways. Judging by their progress, how long do you think we have before they leave?"

"Uhh… Judging by how long they've taken to get to this point… I think… p-possibly about… about…

"A-about th-three days."

* * *

 **There we go. Chapter 4 is out. It was a little bit difficult at the end, but hey, at least it didn't take forever to finish due to writer's block and writer's disinterest. I think it's going to pick up pace from here forward.**

 **Also, thanks for your follows and favorites, as well as viewing it in the first place. The whole story had over 1,300 views at the end of the high of Chapter 3.**

 **Also, I don't know if Fantasy is the best genre for this type of story; I only chose it because I couldn't find another. If you guys have a suggestion for a better Genre (Because to be honest I don't know all that much about the rest) please PM me or add a review with the suggestion.**

 **Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!**


	6. Chapter 5: Storytelling

**Okay, you remember how in the first chapter I said that I was honored to have 30 views on the story? I soon came to realize that was absolutely nothing compared to what's coming up to be 2,000. Thank you guys so much for reading, following and all that. Every time I see the results of a new chapter, I feel giddy afterwards for a time. Heh.**

 **For those of you who have been consistently (and not so consistently) leaving reviews, I really appreciate your feedback. It makes me happy that someone is enjoying my story enough to say something about it. Special thanks to you.**

 **Okay, enough of that. The battle isn't coming yet, I had a couple more chapters I intend to write before that begins, and this is one of them. While we wait in suspense for the conflict to begin, enjoy some backstory.**

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Chapter 5

Storytelling

Grillby sat behind his bar, cleaning it while he waited for his magic reserves to refuel after a practice training session with Sans and Undyne he had had not too much longer after the demonstration five hours ago. He was exhausted, and he practically felt like he could just flop over and dust right there. However, for the sake of his customers and the future ahead, he maintained composure and silently cleaned the glasses.

The training session had gone surprisingly well. Each person had been able to avoid or deal with the other two's attacks, and deal a substantial amount in return. To be able to receive this from Sans, on top of his enormous attack from earlier, was quite shocking, to say the least.

He was actually wondering how Sans had gotten so much strength. It, combined with his ability to teleport and dodge attacks for long periods of time, was more than enough to rival Asgore. Grillby was very surprised he had kept it under his belt for so long.

The front door slammed open, and Grillby was almost startled. (That is to say, he was startled but he didn't show it, because he seldom does.) Undyne walked in with Sans close behind, heading for the bar beside Grillby. They had gone down to the shop to buy some cinnamon bunnies for a treat after their spar, before coming back to Grillby's and sharing the food.

"...but seriously, Sans, what's up with that? I mean, that amount of power you have is more than any monster in the Underground! How can you NOT use it on a day to day basis!?"

"hey, I suppose I'm just that lazy. and as for how I got it… nobody would believe me if I told them."

Undyne sat down at the bar, toning down a little bit to get more serious with him. "Hey, that whole thing about a human with determination being able to rewind time seemed unbelievable, too. But did we shun you for it? No, we're willing to help."

"I've actually been wondering the same, Sans," Grillby spoke up, setting his cleaning rag aside as he finished his glass. "Naturally, those kind of levels of magic are impossible for any single monster without a human soul. I'm quite curious as to how you achieved it."

"And besides," Undyne added, placing her hand on his shoulder, "If it's all going to be reset anyways, and none of us will remember, you might as well say anyways. If it's that big of a secret, why does it matter?"

Sans thought for a moment. "hmmm… alright. I don't see why not. just don't tell alphys, she'd kill me if I said anything. grillbs, make up a couple burgs and fries to go with the bunnies we got, and I'll tell you when you get back."

Grillby nodded, and went into the back to make them. When he returned a few minutes later with three burgers and three plates of fries, Sans grabbed a fry and began his story.

"It all started back when there were only three souls in the Underground. Back then, there wasn't a Royal Guard, and the Royal Scientist was a skeleton going by the name of W. D. Gaster."

"Wait, what?" Undyne slightly edged away from Sans in surprise. "Asgore had appointed Alphys as the royal scientist by then. Are you sure that's when it started?"

Sans shook his head. "no mistake. that's what everybody thinks happened. nobody remembers what really did, because of what happened." He munched his burger before continuing.

* * *

The Royal Scientist was not Alphys, it was a skeleton named W. D. Gaster, or Wing Ding. Since the first human, Chara, fell, he had been doing experiments on determination and its capabilities. I was his son, and later in his work Alphys and I helped him experiment and write notes down.

He was the one who had designed the Core to be so powerful and efficient. How the Core actually works is that it turns Hotland lava into liquid determination through a chemical reaction with an artificial metal called Thorium. This determination then pools into a chamber below many of the walkways, where it is evaporated and absorbed into a generator to power the entire Underground. However, the determination was too unstable to be used to break the barrier, as no monster could directly absorb it, or even be very close to it, without losing all of the structure to their magical body, turning them to dust or doing even worse to them, as was discovered when he tried adding it to monsters that had fallen down. So he began to experiment and find a way to stabilize the determination so it could be better used by monsters.

As part of his experiments, he gave me small amounts of one prototype of altered determination, which in my case had a mixture of patience and a small amount of justice included. As a result, I was able to dissolve my body and rearrange the particles in another location almost instantly; what you call teleportation and I call "shortcuts." I also, as you have seen, have a lot of magic reserves, but as a consequence my body is very fragile and I only have 1 HP. I used to have more than Papyrus before that occurred.

He also, as you now know, tested a prototype on you, Undyne. Yours was high in perseverance and integrity with a hint of kindness and bravery. As I learned later, this allowed you to bring yourself back from turning to dust, and allowed you to maintain life for a much longer duration of time than most monsters after running out of HP. However, your body was delicate much like mine, but you still had a significant amount of HP due to the perseverance.

By the time five souls had fallen into the Underground, he had found the most stable mixture, with what they had, was an equal mixture of kindness and bravery in the determination, which he had tested on Papyrus. As a result, he is strong and durable and a nice bro. He even gained a bit of HP after his experiments.

Gaster had an intention to break the barrier using monster souls filled with determination on a soulless vessel, instead of gathering all seven souls. And when he found the perfect determination mixture, he intended to begin with that. However, the cooling system in the Core failed, and he had to attend to that. As a temporary fix, he assigned a monster here in Snowdin to haul ice into the river, where it would be taken to the Core to cool the determination keeping it running until the issue was resolved.

However, the problem escalated before it could begin to be cooled, and the intense heat caused the determination to begin evaporating before it could be absorbed into the generator. This was hazardous for the monsters, and also was beginning to cause the building to melt. To fix this, Gaster lowered the electricity output maximum so it would provide less power temporarily. Unfortunately, after doing so he had absorbed some of the determination evaporating from the pool below, and somehow an uncontrollable magic flare in his soul caused him to teleport over the edge, falling into the determination and literally shattering him. He absorbed so much of it that his entire existence was scattered across time and space, and changed the timeline so that it seemed as though none of that had been done by him.

* * *

"Only a few seldom people remembered who he was, and I'm the only one of those who wasn't also affected by the determination so much that I lost a grip on the time-space continuum." Sans sat back, nibbling a cinnamon bunny as he finished his story. "but yeah. now you know the truth. and because you do, you should actually see some of your memories changing to adapt to it."

Grillby, who had paused in his burger, actually had experienced that himself. Several times throughout the war, memories of him fighting human squads alone were replaced by fighting alongside Dr. Gaster. Times where an empty chair existed when hanging out with old friends were replaced by him chuckling along, too. Helping Alphys instruct people to build the Core was instead replaced by him lifting enormous beams with his blue magic. Everywhere in his memory, Gaster returned and made his presence.

It appeared Undyne was having the same reactions, based on the look on her face. She shook her head, grinning at Sans. "I suppose you have yet more secrets hidden under that grin of yours."

"you've got your secrets, I've got mine." Finishing his food, he got up from his seat. "well, gotta go. I have some things I should finish before the kid arrives. "And with that, he teleported away, a tiny trace of his remaining particles blowing away through the room."

Since Grillby and Undyne still had food left, they sat together, lost in thought. Grillby noticed that MTT news was playing on his brand new TV he had gotten from Mettaton, and so he turned up the volume to hear what he was saying better.

"...monsters skilled in combat will meet to put a stop to the human at the Ruins door. If they somehow fail and the human defeats them, all remaining monsters in the underground are asked to evacuate to a secure location that will be broadcasted if it occurs. This is to be held until the human leaves the underground, at which point we will try to make the best of what we have left."

Undyne snorted. "You make it seem as though the little punk can't go back and change things. Who's to say the timeline will last that long?"

"The monsters that are going to be in the battle, aside from the Royal Guard, are veterans and in-trainings of the guard, as well as stronger monsters such as some of the hired patrol in the core, and several different stronger monsters, such as Muffet, the owner of a spider parlor. We intend to record the battle live within the next couple of days. So stay tuned, we'll be back shortly for other interesting stories of the day! This is Mettaton, reporting for MTT news!"

Metal Crusher began to play briefly during the transition to the upcoming ads, and Grillby turned the volume back down. Sighing, he cleared the plates they were using and began to clean.

Undyne sat there a moment longer, thoughtful. "Grillby, do you think there might be a way to bring Gaster back?"

Grillby paused, then shrugged. From what Sans had said, it seemed that would be next to impossible, especially if he was shattered across space and time. It could take much longer than they have time for if they were to try and figure it out.

Undyne sighed, deciding she wasn't going to get much talk out of Grillby from this point forward. "Well, I gotta go. I have a few wimps I need to train up for the fight." She rose, and put some cash on the counter for him. "Thanks for the food. I'll see you later."

Undyne left the bar, leaving it pretty quiet since only a couple customers were still inside. Grillby finished up the last dish before heading into the back to try and rest a bit. He'd need all he could get before the upcoming fight.

He just hoped it wouldn't go to waste…

* * *

 **There we go. Another chapter done. Woo!**

 **For those who are curious, the Gaster story was inspired by several comic dubs I forget the names of, one of which was (not really based on but still inspired by) Handplates, as well as Camila's teaser for Glitchtale's episode 4. I thought it would be interesting to put in my ideas of how that went down.**

 **Again, thank you for reading and for your feedback. I'm so happy this story is going well. I'll look forward to seeing you in the upcoming chapters. But for now, the suspense of the upcoming battle lies ahead. And we must wait for it to arrive.**

 **Toodles!**


	7. Chapter 6: Encounter

**This chapter might be a little shorter, I'm not sure. I wanted to fit the rest of the pre-fight stuff into a single chapter, and it was a little hard to do that and get to the 2,000 word goal I have for each chapter. Ah, well. Here it is, and the fight starts next chapter!**

 **In case you didn't see this on my profile, I actually have been writing an Undertale Playscript alongside this story. Since I started it later last year, it's much further along than this story is. I was thinking of potentially putting it here for all of you wonderful people to read if you wish. At the time this chapter was posted, I created a poll asking whether or not I should. Go put your input on that into it if you're interested.**

 **Anyways, enough talk. Let's get the chapter rolling.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 6

Encounter

Flowey watched Frisk (Or Chara, he couldn't tell who was in control at the moment) as they slept in the dim lighting of his old bedroom. They had arrived at Toriel's home half a day ago, and she had guided them to their room where they had slept ever since.

They were taking a particularly long time in the Ruins this particular reset, and Flowey was wondering why. He suspected it had to do with Frisk trying to take back control and stop this madness. As he had observed them this particular timeline, Chara seemed quite hesitant to kill, and it would take a good eye to notice they were fighting for control.

Flowey had noticed several times while watching them that their sleep was not entirely restful. Several times they had stirred, and tossed and turned throughout their sleep. He wondered if they even fought for control within their subconscious.

When, as Asriel, he had absorbed Chara's soul, he had had a lot of difficulty taking control before they destroyed humanity. Even as he retreated they had been shouting words of frustration at him right up to the very ends of their lives. He did not recall having said anything in return after he had regained control of his own body.

Flowey was disrupted from his thoughts by another stirring of the human. Intently watching, he expected them to be getting up any minute now. As they continued to stir, he changed his position in the room from the middle of the floor to under the bed, to see if they would end up placing their feet on the floor.

After a few moments of creaking above him and wondering of whether it would collapse on him or not, Flowey saw a couple feet place down firmly on the floor, as if they had been awake for a while. Quietly getting up, they only had to take one step before Flowey had left the room.

Time to sound the alarm.

Two quick strikes landed Chara another successful hit on Frisk, causing them to cower back in pain and agony. She chuckled, slightly impressed. Frisk had been causing a lot of resistance for them this particular timeline, and it took a significant more amount of effort to kill these monsters with Frisk jabbering in her ear about how "wrong" it was. Yes, it was wrong. Yes, it wasn't helping anyone to kill everyone in the Underground. But Frisk had caused this to happen herself.

"Why?" They now asked in the void of the subconscious, in between gasps of pain. They had decided to try and battle Chara for control of their Soul during the little time they actually rest in the underground. However, Chara was more skilled, and by the end of a long battle inside their own soul, she had ended up victorious. "Why must you do this? Kill all the monsters, over and over again? They had nothing against you!"

Chara snickered again, smirking at Frisk. "Don't you get it?" Their eyes turned black, a corrupt smile creeping upon their face. "Y̴͚̿͑͠ò̴̙͗̔ͅͅu̷̖̖̽̾̌ ̷̻̳͠w̴̖͓̩̏̑̕e̴̠̫͝r̵͖̹͕̎ẽ̸͚ ̷̬͇̰̽ţ̵̇̈́͜h̵̜̟̗̀͛ë̶̜̥̯́͋̚ ̴̮̀͂̅o̸̲̪͈̅͆̒n̸̺̺̫̑̓̎ė̷͈̪̩ ̸͈̠̃̆̈́w̴̹̫̙̐h̷̙̙͙̎̅ö̶̼́ ̴̛̥͉̽̽ṃ̶͙͉̇a̸͇͐d̸̝̓̑̈e̵̖̖̱̎͂ ̵̬̀̾́ţ̵̛͒͜h̸̭̭̫̀͝i̵̬̗̔ͅs̴̩̀͜ ̸̺͔̭͋̓c̴̭͚̟̈́͊͠h̸̯̯̠͛͆ö̵̡͙́͜ĭ̵̜̑̈́c̵͇͋͂̾e̵̲͌̿͝.

"̷̯̎́Y̷̨̘̝͉͖̝͈̤̫̯̓̈́͊͌̀͆̂͆͗͜͝͠͝ö̸͖̱̩́̍̽͆̌̆̽̄͑̆̎̍͑̚̚͠ů̸̧̪͕͎̬̖͕̻͙̳̥̞̩̝̩̰̞̥̿̈́͂̍̑̃̉̅̅͊́̃̃̿̕͜͝ ̴̨̨̨̧̮̦̻͓̥̳̭̥͕̹͔͉̳̖̭̫͕̪̞̱͎̥̰͖͈͈̗̲̭͎͉̦̻̖̏̉͛̈́̽̆̑͌̎̊͆̒̎͐̊̊̋̄́̋̅͘͘͝a̴̪̱̤̙̻̮̝̼̜̲͈͈̼͉̩̯̙̻͔͓̫̟̮̭̓̑̓͐͒̒͛̈́́̓̅̆͒̔̄͝ͅř̶̡̧̢̗̞̱̝̲͉̠͚̥̼̞͍͇͚̟̘̲͎̱̹͉͚̄͗̇̄́͋̊̚ͅë̷͔͈͈́̀͂̅̅̃̏̎̂̈́̑̀͑̽͑̓͒̏̌̀̓̓̈́͂̆̈́͆̇̊͂̍̕͘͝ ̸̧̱͎̞̣̫̰̯͍̘̤͓̥̙͚͚̘̭͈̰͖̖͚̰̠̞͕̰̮̲̜̀̆̓̆t̵̢̨̧̧̢͉̟̟̦͓̜̮̤̣̤̦̻̱̜̳̼̒̔͛h̵̨̡̛̹̻̠͖̯̭̣̲̜̹̤̲̫͈͎̭͔̠̙̿̂́̊̾̐͛͆̈̏̿͑̈̑͛̿̆̆̄̇̋̓͆̏̽̂͆̀̍̈́̓͆͜͜͜͝͠͝͠͝͝e̸̯͙̭͕͎̰̩̽̈́̒͋̾̃̔̔͒̎̉́̃̍̒̉̂͆͋̇͛̅̍̆̑́̐͠͝͝͝ ̴̧̛̞̰̣̘̦͙͕̓͌̔͒͆̇͂̿́̐̂̋̍̍͒̈͗̽́̈́̃͑̈͘͘̚͝͝͝o̵̢̡̨͎̝͍̣̮͉͙̻͉̖̥̼̺͗͊̏̎̀̎͒̓̑̅͗́̕̕͘͠n̵̞̱̙̺̝̲̼̪̬͍͍̥̱̱͇̬͑͑̈́̈́́̊̀̈́͛͒̊̉̎̃̈́͌͌͑̚͜͠͝ẻ̴̡̧̳̟̙̘͇̤̯͚̮̦̩̮͇̗̣͕̰̖͍̙̲̾͒̋̽̇ ̸̢̧̨͍̯͉̪̗͎͉͉̞͕̩̥̩͉͈̣̰̳̞͓̝͕͛̉̊͐̅͊̌̒̒͂͑̀͂͊̏͗̔̉̂̀̌̑̾̈̿̕͠w̸̢͉̹͕̬̱͇̦̦̩͈̰̪͕̘̠̠̜̣͖̼̗̮̜͇̼̲͔̙͒̑̆̿̎͜͠ͅḧ̴̡̡̛̩̣͇̳͉̖͐̓̃̀̆̀̑̅̌̈͆̀̄͑͊̑͂͌̋̈́̆͆̍̒͑̒̽͆̕̚̕͜͠ǫ̸̨̯͚̟̱͎̗͕̩̱͔̻͕̌̾̽͋͗͛̃̑̈͗̃̈́̍̇͘͘̕͘͘ ̵̨͇̻̹̪̝̺̗̟̝̤͎̫͍̮̯̬̖̞̠͈̟̟͎̠̟̱̣̀̒̑̀̈́̅̒͛̈̀͘͘͠w̴̡̢̛̙̳͕̲̰̣̝̭̦̭͐͒͆̎̌̏̀̓͜͝i̵̛̻̐̾̍͗͛̈́͐̇͒́̀̑̍́͆͂̑̈́̂͌͒̂̃̉̏̓̏͑̐̉̉͌̃͂͘͠͠ļ̶̨̧̧̡̥͕̟͓͎̭̪̪̣̬̺̜͉̖̝̗̰͉̱͕͓̻͍̦͍̝̞̙̙̱̙̹̬́̎̓̄̑̋̍͌̆͗͋̀̑̏̉̀͠ͅl̸̛͕̙͖̦̩͎̫͇̫̯̺͙̣̩̮̣̗͉̗͖̖̘̦̙̠͚̈̇̒̄́̇͌͊̋̏̈́̉͊́̈̎̒̌̓̔̏̇́̚̕͜͝͠ ̶̧̡̖̞̝̼̺̗̜̹͔̪͓̜͎͇̞͇͕͍̦͙̠̫̺͕͙̟͇̾̇̅̾̅͆̾̓̈́̂͗̒̽̊p̶̢̨̧͇̜̪̘̺̼̭͈̳͕͇͇̱̯̱̤̖̳̩̄͂̑̀̃̏̏͊̓̄̒͛̌̽̓͑̀̏̎͛̓̀͒̌̍̽̋͐͆͘̚̚͝͠͠͠ͅͅa̸̧̢̜̞̫͇͕̪̲͇̠̱͉͉͔̟̠̥̟̳̰̣̦̜̬̙̜̩̭̺̰̳͚̳͔̤̣̘͊̅͑̐̏̉͐̂̎̀̉̓̈̓͛̊͑̍̚̕͝͝ͅy̷̢̛͔͉̏́̓̐̾͋̊͗̆̏̄̂͒͘̕͝ ̴̨̨̡̪̭̯̤͚̮̘̘̗̩̣̣͕̻͓̮̬̪̟̇̀̔̓̾̑̑̾͑́̽͛͗͆͌̈́̈̃̇͌̈́̅́̅͌̌̈́͋̚͜͝͠͝͝ͅt̵̛̹͙͓͙̖̩̯͎͚͇͙̫̦͔̹̻̏̏̒̒͑̌̊͑́̓͐͊̅̀̈̉̓̈́̎̾̊̊̀͑̌͘̕͝͝͠͝ḩ̵̢̨͈͍̘͉̠̗̙̺̭͈̫̠̼͓͓͇̩̯́̀̍́͛̉̌̈́̄̀͒̒̏̓̌̐̾̍̃́̊̊̀̾̑̽̿̐̀́̓̈͘̚͘͝͝͝e̴̢̡̢̧̛̛̛͕̥͓̺̮̬̞̯̼̞̰͓̪͉̩̦̤̻̎͊̿͆̈̂̽̽̂̇̾̊̀̏͑̊̀́̉͊̊͗̍͐͗̐͘͝͝͠ ̷̢̨̧̢̛̛̯̰̭̫̺͙̫̬͔̳͖̯̖͎̙͎͖̮͖̟͓̯̞̮̙̬̩̪̺̘͎̉̏͊͒͆̉̓̒̾̅̌̀̌̍̌̈̀̀̊͑̉̑̔́̋̒̉͜͝͝c̸̢̡̨̛̱̙̟̻̻̬̯̘̬̘̤̙͓̻̣͓͓̱̤̤̥͍͔̈́̓͊̔̂͑̃̄̊̾̅͐̃̇͛͒̓̕̕ơ̸̡̨̢̨̰̮̭̭̻͎͍͓̖͚̮̹͍̥̙̫̥̜̹̙̮̺̲̬̗̝̩̗̩̝̺͋̑̾̄̂̾͌̾͊̏͊́̈́̾͘͝͠ͅņ̶̛̛͖̝̳̜̖͓͓͙̮̤̱̫͖̲̣͓̪̜̻̮̠͆̑̓̇̾͌͒̆̓̎̌̎̓̾́̊̐̅̿̒́͗̊͂̄͗̉͂̌́̾̌̇̎͐̕̕͝ͅͅs̶̛̩̫̒̅̑́̏̄̃͑̌̾͆̿̌̓̊̎̈́̽̂̑̊̊̍̒͗̎̃̀̂̐̍̕̕͠ē̸̢̨̡̧͙̝̠͎͉̺͉̰̹̥̩͚̻͎͔̗̠̻͖̩̺̠͚̪̖̗̣̥̆̂̇̌̓̿̅̀̍͛͗̊̈́̋̑̾͠q̵̧̡̢͚̬̯͕͙͙̯̠̤̪͚̣̳̠̥̠̩̅̽͑̈́̏̅͗̊̎̋͐͛͂͊͂̎͋̓̎̂̈́̈́͛̉̑͆̎̾̆̀͐̓̚̚͝͝͠ͅų̷̨̳͚͍̲̳͚̻̠̭̠͈͕̪̱͈̰̜̺̦̝̠̽̌̅̉̑͛̎͛̎͊̽̊̄̑̎̆̄́͜͜͝ẹ̷̛͕̤͐̊̀̏̓͑̈́́̄͌͐̓͌̂̌́̑͊͛̀̾̎̎͐̌̌͘͘̕͠n̸̨̢̟̻͔̳̲̪̰̪͎̻̩̲̙͈͚̺̣͓̦͕̝̜̽̀̔̿͜c̴̡̢̢̺͙͈̠̺͇̺̱̘͚̪̜̹̻̗͕͉̜̣̘̘̹̭͚̣͉͖͈̀̀̓̊͊̾̉̿͋͊̔̽̄̓͆̋̿͐͆̾͂̉̾͘͠ͅe̴̡͖̖͓͉̭͍̜͓͙͎͔͚̭̞̙͎̦͉̱̟͉͕̤͈͙͔̖̗̐͒͒͑̓̑̑̒̇̂͜͜ͅͅs̸̡̨̢̙̱̩͉̩̩̟͓͚̮̲̜̳̬̖̳̟̝̝͍͓͓̩̙̦̙̲̱̻͕̮͔̀̍́̿̾̓͌̉̂͗͗̆́͒̑͗̌̈́̾̅̓͒̽̐̀͌͆̾̒̾͊̒͆̈́̾͘͘̕͘͘͜͜͜͠͠͝ͅ"

By doing that first genocide, you awoke me to punish you f̸̛̤̰̤͎̫̠̘̱̠͌͜ȏ̴̧̨̘̠̖̰̞̯̘̣̼̣̮̜̙̥̣̙͙͌̐̇ͅȑ̷̳͗̃̂̿͗͌̒̃̏̅͆̈́́̋͆̿̋̂̂̈͂́̽͝͝͝ ̴̢̢̧̨͔̞̟̞͉̯̱̥̩͓̙̠̜͍̥̞̅͒̑̆͐̋͗͊͊̌̇̄̆̇̋̐̓̍̓͘͜i̵͙̭͕̟̐̿́t̸̨̨̢̡̫̟͚͇̟̼͈͕̼̟̙̲̮̰͈̻͉̞̺͊̇̍̌̀̇͂̅͑͑̋͛̄̀̅̇̓̏͑͐̂̔͑̓̍̾̐̅͝͠.̶̢̡̧̗̣̻̯͕͕̰̥̱̑̏͛̚͝ B̴̢̲̤͚̖̟͙͉̾͛͑y̷̢̛̜̖̐̀̎̍̏́̕ ̸̨̳͖̣̬̠̉͐̆c̸̛̙͈̀̿͂͑͘h̴̪̖͆͋͌͠ö̵̜̣̜̈́ờ̴̡͈̭̤̤͒̍̐͝s̵̢̼̳̆͛̑̿̓̆̾̽ͅi̵̧̞̫̩͖͓̤̦͒̇̆n̷̲͕̳͚͆̐̓̐̇̄̓͜ġ̶̖̭̺ ̸̛̗͔̞̣͎̟̀͒͋̕ț̸̨̺͙̱̬͍͇̋͂̂̃̂̿o̵̿̃͒̽̀͜͜ ̶̭͒̀͑̆i̷̮̭͋͛̅̇̊̄̌̕ǧ̴͉̃̃̆̓̅͝͠ń̶̢̦̑͒͜ō̵͍̤̮̂͗͋͜ͅr̵͕͖͔̩̖͂̎̊͑̓̂͋e̴̖͛̇̾̃̈́̌ ̵̤̹͕̻͚͋̐̂̈́͋̉̇̆t̷̹̦̊̒͌́͘ͅḧ̵̢̭̻̩͍̪́a̷̦͈̰̥̻͉͜͜͝ṫ̵̮̝̦̫̖̍,̴͕̫̟̞̏͊͛͗́͆̉̌ ̴̜̞͆͌̂̒̾͆̂̚I̶̮͙̜̗̫̍̿͗͊ ̵̛̯̺̠͗͂͛̉͂͆m̶̢͖̤̯̞̱̏̈́́̏͝͝ͅủ̸͉͙̪̱̇͛͝ͅs̵̹̩̩̓̓̑̀͒̉̈̚t̸̗͚̒̂̈́͗̈́͒̌͛ ̸̹͛͊͑t̸̨̛͙̗̹̓̈̊̔͠ẻ̷̗̮̈́̓̉͂̐͊â̸͉̩͖̇͛̍̂͝c̷͓͙̬̰̥͛͋ͅh̶͚̤̻̘̱̖͕̮͂ ̸̩̈́̓̊̏͛͑̚͝ͅy̷̙̭̝̞̦̝̦̔̅̓͗͘̚͘͝o̶̺̤̝͔̾̅ṳ̵̡̖̗͈̟̦̿̄͛͝ ̵̝̀͆t̸̖̹̩̍̎h̵̠̰̙̦̝͔̹̖̚e̶̛͖̫̲̻̎̓͛̀͂ ̴̨͕̹͕̝̼̗͂̋̊͒͝c̷̡̯͖̹̾̇̓̾͜o̸͖̻̅̾́̇n̶̙̪̭̈́̀͒̿̑̾̕s̵̻̤͎̭̭̝͗́́͆̉̌̒͘e̸̱̹̩͔̲̳̍q̵̳̼̠̱͔̞͊͌̂̑̾͊́̚͜u̵̲͐ê̸̡̻͑̂̈́̔́͗͝n̴̛̫͗͐̋̀̾͂c̴̨̨͈̰̲̬̊̀̈́́͜ͅȩ̸͈́̾͝s̸̨̛͍̞͓͉̏̾͝͝ ̴̧̨̹̼̻̳͕͛͊̐͐̓ó̸̭̪̳̫̭͎̺͑̔̊̌̓̕͝f̶̥̟̫̗͓̱͑̇̒̒̕͘͝ ̴̧͚͔͎͙̰̮́͘m̷͇̹̗̰̯̖̩̓̅̃̿̊ͅu̸̧̬̓̀̎̌͊̿r̷̪̲̠͑̔̈́͜ͅd̵͚͍̮͉͉͓̟́̒ͅe̵̘͍̗̤͕͂̈́͜͝r̷̜̠͎͔̻̲̽͝.̶̧̜̪̫͓̉͊̅͠"

Having successfully spooked Frisk to the point where they were absolutely terrified (and hopefully understanding), Chara pulled back, pulling their usual smile and eyes. "Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let's get back to it, shall we?"

With that, Chara left the void of their subconscious, causing them to wake up.

"Tra la la. Come again some time." The Riverperson sailed off as Undyne stood in the cold snow of Snowdin, fully donned in her armor. She had gotten a call from Alphys stating that the human was practically to the end of the ruins, and that all combat monsters were to arrive in Snowdin Forest within the next fifteen minutes. That had been three minutes ago, and and Undyne was already sprinting to the end of Snowdin forest in full gear.

She didn't find it surprising that some of the others were already there before she arrived. The dog squad, Grillby, Papyrus, and several other guards were already waiting, standing alert. What surprised her was that Sans was nowhere to be found. With his teleportation powers, she expected him to be here at the blink of an eye.

"Has Sans not shown up?" She asked the others, particularly Papyrus since he'd have the best idea. All shook their heads.

"HE TOLD ME SEVERAL HOURS AGO THAT HE WAS GOING TO GO WORK ON SOMETHING AND THAT HE'D BE AWAY FOR A WHILE…" Papyrus stated, skeletal brows somehow furrowed in confusion. "HE HASN'T SHOWN UP SINCE."

"I'm sure Alphys called him, so he should be by any moment now." Undyne reassured him, leaning against a tree while she waited for the others to arrive. He might just be finishing up whatever he was doing. Then again, he might also just be taking a nap.

Over the course of the next eight minutes, everyone else who would be fighting arrived. Muffet arrived with her pet and swarm of little spiders, the rest of the Royal Guard arrived in full armor. Mettaton showed up with a camera crew set off in the bushes to record the battle live. Even Asgore had shown up all the way from the Capital, but Sans hadn't arrived yet.

Flowey appeared suddenly in the earth in front of them all. "The human will be leaving the ruins any second." He scanned the crowd. "Where is Sans?"

Suddenly he appeared behind everyone. "right here."

Flowey sighed. "Sans, you were almost late. What took you so long that was so important?"

Sans shrugged. "Call it a Plan B." Flowey rolled his eyes and hoped that this extra time taken would help them in the long run.

Suddenly, they all heard a massive creaking sound. All turning to look, the Ruins door had opened. A moment of silence fell, with only the wind picking up as noise in the background.

Then, they saw the human.

"Y… You… Really hate me that much?" Toriel said, deeply in shock. Chara mentally rolled her eyes and waited for this to end. They just wanted to get to the good action already; Undyne's fight and Sans's. There wasn't much else interesting about these genocide resets, to be honest.

But Frisk had paid the price by starting this route originally, and they had to be brought to justice, one way or another. Since not many others could really remember, showing that there are consequences by doing it over and over again was a start. Despite having killed them, they considered the monsters their friends, and it did grieve them greatly to see the die over and over again.

Coming out of their thoughts, Toriel had turned to dust, and they were free to continue. Leaving the room, they came forward to the small grass patch where Flowey usually said they could work together. However, he hadn't shown up. Where had that coward run off to? He usually tried to join them here.

Shrugging, they thought little of it and continued forth to the door. What difference did it make when it'd all be reset by them anyway? It was just another bump in the road, so to speak.

Shoving the heavy door open, they stepped back out into the cold of Snowdin. Odd, they thought. It seemed the snow was more windy this time. Something seemed off.

Clomping through the snow towards Papyrus's gate, Chara didn't hear any of the signs Sans was existent until they reached it. Then they heard the footsteps drawing nearer in the snow.

"human. don't you know how to greet a new foe?"

Wait, what? "Foe?" He never said that before.

"you come at them, head-on."

Chara turned around, facing him with a glare. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"what I'm saying, is…" He paused, vanishing. Chara turned around, and was met with the entire Royal guard and several of the other bosses and foes they had and hadn't met or fought along the way. "things are about to get very interesting."

Chara was quite surprised. They had never fought an entire battle against many people at once before. Not to mention that they were only at LV 3 with very few healing items. And their best weapon was a toy knife. They were clearly not at their best levels.

However, they smiled. "It looks like you caught me with a low amount of LOVE, hmm? I'm not at my strongest when just coming out of the Ruins. But… That's okay. Because…. If I don't have LOVE in the first place…"

Chara's eyes turned black, grin becoming demonic like they demonstrated on Frisk. "̵̨̡̫͎̮͈̮̬̯̰̟͗̒̑̄̓̃̽̓̽̚͜ͅǏ̶͉̫̹̪̺͊̈́̂͊̚͝'̶̡̩͎̬̞͙̟̚L̵̢̜͎̗̊̔͊̽̋̏̌̅̋̑͑L̸̪͙̺̞̳̺̟̺̩͂̽̿̅͜ ̸̻̣͖̝͖̼̑̑͋̈́̅̇͂̾̄̕M̷̤̩̳̰̯̺̳͌́̌͛͆̑̊́̆̀̍̚͜͝͝Ḁ̸̛̠͇̭̳̎̓̍̑̐͆̀̈́̓̍̚͘K̷̤̱̻̟͇͒ͅE̷͉͓͑̒̋͛ ̴̛̦̫̼̹̈́̓̋͒́̈́̌̈́͂͂̚Ḭ̸̡̢͇͚̼̣̻̯̀́͑͊̂ͅT̸̨̨̰̘̩͉̼̮̪̦̺͉͙̉̄̿͂͑̔̾͋̔͋͆̾͛̍̃͜ ̶͎̖̮̙͐̂̃̽͂́̂̊̐̌́̆̾͘M̷̛̹͑̂̀͗̋̋̅͐̀Ȳ̵̨̛̪̣͓͉̰̜̪͕̬̥̬͕̝̇͑̓̋͑̃͜S̴̯̱̔̍̒̿E̶͍̗̞̦̱̜̞̭͕̐͌̏͘L̸̡͔̟̳̳̝̱̤͍̪͑́̔̇̄̿̄̒̍̕͠͠F̵̦̈́̔̆̊̍́̎̅̚͜͠!̸̡̟̮͇̟̲͔̟͕̱̪̥͉͛̓͜"̵̢̢̧̛̭̩͉̗͈͇̮̠̤̈́̏̄̈̾̽͗́̀̚͠ͅ Cackling, they thrust their toy knife into the ground, producing a swirl of snow around them.

Sans covered his eyes to protect them from the flying snow that was produced. He certainly wasn't expecting this as a result of their unification. This, he realized, could turn really ugly a lot faster than if they were just at LV 3.

After a few moments, the flurry died down, and the snow began to settle. Every monster was alert, trying to see through the snow. Suddenly, Doggo became wide-eyed, and seemingly threw knives in a lot of directions generally near the monsters around him. Confused, Sans watched until suddenly they collided with nine different knives that were thrown out of the snow. He had been able to see them before nobody else, and so had blocked them.

Unfortunately, he missed one, and it collided with its target: Undyne. Gasping, she collapsed, having taken 999999999 damage. Sans was surprised at the damage. A person at LV 3 should not have that much damage. Looking over at the settled snow, he CHECKed the human, who somehow was now in a green sweater instead of a blue, and had five knives in each hand, spread out like fans.

*Check - Ç̶̧̛̭̮̙͈̺̬̩̻̤͉̞̎͛̄́̍͊̈̃͆͌̑̄͝͝H̴̨͓̣͙̄̀̈͗̀̂́̊͛͒A̴̛̘̱͙͆̆́͌̽R̸̡̨̧̢̦͎͕͍̯̺̪̿̓́̍̐̇̀̎͝͝Ǎ̸̧̨̛̟͍̘̹̯̫͕͖̻̉͌̾̍̏͑ ̶̧̮͉̙͙̭̼̳̑͑͛̈͐̈́͗́͛̀͘͜͝͝͠9̶̧̟̖̜̪̭̭͙̝̺̟̃̑̊͒̕ͅ9̵̫̰̞̟̰͚̙̬̟̞̤͉̞͉̿̆̕9̶̢̝̣͕͍̍͒͛̀̈͌͆͛͐͌͂̉͛͘̕ ̴̭̳͉̂̈̓̽͌̓̓͝Ǎ̵̲̠͓̮͚͉̰̪̫̎̊̅̓͜͜ͅT̴͍̗̬͕̎̍͋̏K̸̢̢̨̨̛͙̣̰̳̳͓͙̯̫̯̉́̃̓̒͑̐͆̚ ̶̧͙͈͚̣̱̞͋̾͒̾̏́͛̋͗̕̕9̷̡̹̦͓̰̳̪̲̬͓̤̄9̸̧̢̼̰̘̯͇̦̞̦͕͌͝9̷̛̛̱̳̟̟̱̘̦͂̈́̿͗̕ ̴̤͇̘̖̺̠̎́̿̿́̆̇̀̓̈́͆̆̕͠Ḏ̸̨̬̰̞̱̠͕̻̅̄̈́͋̍͝E̶͓͌̀͂̓̌̑̅̒͊Ḟ̶̡͉͖̦͓̳̎̽̍̆͗̂̾́̚͜ ̵̨̘͙̰̺̝̩͔͇͓́̇̓͘1̸̯̍͋̈́̀͛̾̋̅̓̋̆̚͠0̵͉͚̻͂͗̿̃̄͑͝0̴͈̙͔̇̀̿̀͒̊́͆̒̕̕̕ ̶̣͓̝̲̰̖̥̭̞̗̭̲̌̓̈́͐̀̆̂̑̈́͊͘͜͝ͅL̶̡̼͕̗̼̙̘̼̝̋̏̈́͠O̵̙̳̥͕̰̍̒́̕̚V̶̡̗͉̞͎̥̐̈́̇͛̆̇̾̑̈́̈́͑̍̐̑̕E̶̗̫͓͉͆̽̀̽͊͌̒̉͒͑̕ͅ ̷̢̭͙̺͍̲̱̰̓̓̽̋͆͐̃́̓4̴̠͈̭͍̫̜͚̱̈̍̈͆̓̓̌͂́̕̚͠9̶̨̘̫̤̞͚̭̗͚́̑̾͆̀9̴̛̦̃̓̑̽͆̇͑̽͗̀̉̾͘ ̴̱̭̪̺̘͖̲͊̒H̴̢̯̙͎̜͚̖͎̪̙̫̱̎̿̔̓̽̿̍͋̾͒̌̇̃̅͝P̴̛̲̼͔̯̺͓̹̹͙̫͋̓̿͒̇̒̅̀̈̔̕͜͝

Sans looked at these stats, wide-eyed. They had accumulated this LOVE over the past five genocides, and now had used it here to gain an extra hand.

Well, it would be challenging. Sans summoned his bones and Gaster Blasters, and many other monsters, including Undyne, who had revived herself as Undyne the Undying, did the same with their own attacks.

The battle had begun.

* * *

 **And there we go. That was an interesting little one, wasn't it? I have a lot of little surprises planned for this book. I've foreshadowed for one of them that will come later in several of the chapters, but it's kinda subtle as to not give it away. Have you guessed yet?**

 **Also, the next chapter may come out at a slower pace. I have a performance in my Drama class coming up next weekend, and it's gonna be a busy week for me, so I might not have a lot of time to work on writing. I'll be sure to work on it when I feel I can, though.**

 **In the meantime, thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time!**


	8. Chapter 7: Adapting

**My performance in Drama went well, and I'm back to writing. Hopefully, anyway. I don't want the battle to be super short, but I don't have too many ideas that come straight to the top of my mind instantly. I guess we'll have to see how it turns out.**

 **Also, just as a note, Chara does use a few swear words here that should be taken note of. It's not heavy in profanity, but there are a couple words to be taken note of later in the chapter, so if you don't like that you might want to stay away. But I suppose you're going to read anyway, aren't you?**

 **Yeah, I thought so.**

 **Anyways, enough talk. A lot of you have been waiting for this, I'm sure, so let's get it rolling. I've never written a fight before.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 7

Adapting

Chara leaned back, disappointed in the results of the attack. The only attack that had hit anyone was the one targeted at Undyne… Who, of course, was now Undyne the Undying. This was disappointing.

Before any of them made their move for their turns, she quickly scanned the group. Every single boss monster was here, as well as the monsters from the CORE and several others from various locations. Surprisingly, Doggo had been the one to counter the attacks.

Suddenly, the knives that they had thrown came directly back at the box, straight for their soul. Too surprised to react, they were hit… And given the most painful experience of their life.

As it turns out, taking 1 billion damage to your HP is very very painful indeed. Every atom of your being is ripped into its individual parts, and your soul is shattered into a thousand pieces.

[GAME OVER]

Instead of hearing Asgore's voice saying to stay determined, Papyrus spoke. "HUMAN, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS. I PROMISE YOU CAN DO BETTER! CHANGE YOUR WAYS AND SAVE US ALL!" His voice faded out as the location of the last SAVE came into view.

Stunned, Chara was frozen at the SAVE point in the Ruins outside Toriel's home. For a few minutes they just stood there, shocked at what happened. They were snapped out of it when invisible ghostly Frisk appeared and floated next to them, eyebrows raised and mouth in its usual flat face.

"I'm the one who needs to be taught a lesson here?" They said, tone critical and judging. "It seems to me you might be taking it too far."

"Oh, shut up," Chara spat back, glowing red eyes glaring back. "They can't understand my relationship with disciplining you. At the very most, it'll take me a couple hundred resets to get through them and then you'll see that this pain because of your consequences will never end." They continued up the path to Toriel's house, imitating Frisk's face so as to look normal. "This is just a minor setback. Don't expect me to be giving up anytime soon."

Frisk sighed, and moved to a sitting position as they floated along behind Chara as they went through everything pre-battle again. "We'll see."

After killing Toriel again, Chara went back to SAVE again. When they returned and came forth to the grass patch, Flowey appeared this time, a determined smirk on his face.

"So, what did you think? I thought that'd be a good way to stop this. You know, when you reset after doing a genocide or pacifist, I still remember everything, despite your attempts to erase. I just keep quiet about it, you know? It's all part of the script."

Flowey paused. Impatient, Chara took a step forward. He noticed this, and sighed.

"Look, Chara. I'm tired of this endless killing. I've given up trying to join you, because it's clear you don't want my help." He paused, turning towards the ground and hiding his face. "I'm also remembering how happy we all were when Frisk freed everyone those first couple of times. Why did you have to ruin it for us…?" He asked, looking back up at them with an Asriel face. "Why?"

Chara took another step forward, impatient to move on to try the battle again. He dropped his questions, concluding he wouldn't get answers for them.

"Well, you've got a lot coming for you." He said as last words, and then vanished into the ground. Chara passed his last location and shoved the door open once more, entering into the cold.

Reflecting upon previous runs, the snow really was more blustery, as they had noticed last time. Maybe, since the weather here was magically generated, it changed under the influence of a lot of hostile magic.

If that were the case, it would increase significantly as the battle raged on. Chara shut the door behind them and headed towards the bridge where the battle had begun last time. If Sans was hard when Frisk first met him, this would be very, very difficult to achieve.

Speaking of Sans, he had appeared behind them and began to walk towards them. Not desiring that beginning again, Chara spoke. "You don't need to go through that again. I've already heard it once." Turning around, they looked at him with their smug grin. "So, as you'd say… let's just get to the point."

Sans looked back into their red eyes, studying for a moment before blinking, eyelights gone. "Let's."

With Sans teleporting away, Chara turned around, transforming into their LOVE form that they used from accumulated genocide runs of before. Aside from the amount of damage they had taken, 100 LOVE felt practically like you were Dead. An average person such as Frisk couldn't handle it, and that was part of the reason Chara took over when they reached LV 20. But Chara had had practiced control at high LOVE after Asriel had fallen, and they could manipulate it and use it well.

The knives they generated using magic were thrown through the snow, but this time they anticipated the counter back and dodged them when they returned. Then the monsters' real first attack actually began. Sans started it with a slam upwards, then his bone wave in reverse. Chara was disoriented by it, being used to opposite controls, and took half her damage just on that. Then, all of a sudden, their soul was turned orange, a color they had never been used to before. Completely confused by it, they got hit with twenty different spear attacks that completely filled the box from various locations around it, which took care of the rest of their health, shattering them again.

[GAME OVER]

Sans spoke this time. "kid, ya gotta learn when to quit. I get you seem to be having fun and all, but this seriously needs to stop." He paused. "we can help out, but it's in your hands."

Toriel's home was visible again. Chara sat down, lost in thought for a moment.

"Are you sure about that?" Frisk startled them, once again floating beside them with eyebrows raised. They were continuing from the last point Chara had spoke to them, when they had claimed that they weren't going to give up anytime soon. "It seems to me they have more in store for you. I somehow doubt that your determination can hold out through that." They reached for the soul. "Maybe I should take over again and set things straight."

"N̸̢͖̩͔̑̚Ơ̷̡̡̊̅!̴̡̠̓̚" Chara said, snatching the shared soul from their grasp and creating a barrier to prevent them from accessing it further throughout the next resets. "T̶͔̱͒h̷͓́̚i̴̝̇̓s̷̭̊̐͜ ̸̢̇i̸̧͕͐͝s̸͇̻̑ ̶̣̃̔m̵̢̗̌͠y̴͔̟̿ ̸̜̾r̷̦̫̿̿ĕ̴̼̐s̵̢̉p̵̫̑͑o̶̦̫͂n̸̗̆s̷͉̈́̀ḭ̶̦̾b̸̡̪̐i̴̪̚l̶̟̿̚i̶͈̾t̴̡̠̃y̷̛̪͗,̸͈̇ ̴̪̟͗̒y̵̬̬̍o̸̟͍̅u̸̘̠̔̉ ̴͓̻̅̒ḁ̴̞͑r̷̥̖̆͗e̸̜͂ ̵̹̌n̷̳̏͒ô̶̦̹̔ṭ̴̨̛̒ ̸̟̎t̶͉͗̎o̴̟̔ ̸̺̾ȉ̴̡̤n̶̪͒t̴̮̀ͅë̴̘́r̶̡͠f̵̫̍ȇ̶͈r̵̦̭̔ḙ̸́̔͜.̵̳͉͊͊" Returning the soul to their own chest, Chara headed for the doorway to the Ruins once again.

It took them a couple more resets to even figure out how the orange soul mode actually worked. However, the messages being said along the way somehow seemed to encourage Frisk, who after all this was suddenly becoming a pain to handle.

"Punk, I think you're not too bad, aside from the I-want-to-kill-everything attitude. How many times do I have to beat the heck out of ya before you take second thoughts about this?"

"Darling, you're a fabulous actor, you know that? I've been told that by the flower, and I'd love to see it in reality!"

"Frisk… p-please… please come back. Everyone m-misses you here! Y-you don't have to g-g-give in!"

Eventually they got the hang of it, and managed to survive with minimal HP. At last, they got a chance to attack again. Ducking and rolling under the final set of spears as it came at them, they quickly struck, throwing all ten held knives at once into the crowd.

Alas, the attack was in vain. Mettaton's mini-bots blocked the attacks, each taking the damage for themselves. Two or three were deflected again by Doggo, which flew back towards Chara's soul. Chara dodged them with ease before their soul was changed green. The attacks were very unlike Undyne's standard attacks of spears. Grillby appeared to be attacking with flames from several directions while Sans fired gaster blasters at the soul from far away. All in all it was confusing to try and block it all, and, having been left at 1HP with no healing items, Chara ended up dying again.

[GAME OVER]

"..."

" …"

" ...come back."

Chara mentally grimaced at the simple pleads to stop this. None of them could understand what their purpose in doing this was.

"Maybe you are in the wrong, Chara," Frisk suggested from behind the invisible bars Chara had created to barrier them off. "Have you ever considered that? That you might be doing this for more than you tell yourself?"

"I̸̥̚ ̶̢̮̈́t̴͕̦͆o̶̳̓l̸̳̈́̕d̷̡̹́̐ ̵̜̋̄y̴̥͕̯̲̏̉̈́̚ǫ̷͓̆̊͂̎͗̀̀ù̷͉̖͎̻͕͚̱͕̫̬̝͙̣̤̀̅̆́̈́͆͐̏͆͘͘̚͝͝ͅ ̴̧̞̝̖́̋̽̎̎͗́̅̇̚ͅṫ̸̥̤̠̱͛́̌̂́͛̈͊̄o̵̢̹͙͈̟͓̠͔̩̫̝̝̓̀̉̔ ̷̛͕̹̼͚̳̻̻͓̃̎͌͗̎b̶̫̳̭̲͚̪͍̮̝̥̘͋́ḻ̸̘̝̲͓̜̯̻͕̈͆̌̓̀̾̏̓̄̏̕̚͝ͅo̷̮̥̫̬̠̰̖̓͊̊͂̎̈́̀̒͒̐͘̚͜͠͝͠o̸̦̒̈̎d̷̛̺͚͊̓̀̊̀͑͌̔̄̽̓̓̒̕y̶̫͍̰̌͌́̕͘͜ͅ ̶̨̢̢̧̛̣͚̦͍͓͈̝͓̱̳͉̩͕̲͎̖̊̅̊̀̊̾̏̽̃͊̌̋͊̀̄̏̀̓̇̕̕̚͘̚͜Ş̶̝͕͇̥̣͎̣͉̯͒͊̇̏̕ͅͅH̵̛̘̮̤͆͋̐̉͒͊̔̐͛̈̅̌̾͐̓͗̓̿̏̓̋͆͛̎̚͠͠Ų̴̛͚̘̳̭̦̠͂͒͑̾̅̈́̓̓͐̋̈́̃́̈́͘͠͝͝T̴̡̬̲̲̟͙̜̭̖̹̪̟͎̤̮̾̌͐̈̉̂̆̒͋̐̀͗͛̇͑̈́̑̐͑͘͘̚͜͝ ̵̜͍̦̖͇̮̝̫̮͊̔̀̈́̀̚͜͜T̴̼͙̎̾̔̅̏H̸͔̣̗̥͉̮̐̅͜E̵̦̫̜͓̥̒̃̏̎ ̸̛̣̟͙̫͚̘̣̹̪͈̥̝̯̟̙̭̻͔̼̀̎̑̈͋̀̂̈́͒̑̽̎͊̔̒̂͆͑̍̓̓́̊͘͠F̵̟̭͆̂̓͘͝͝U̵̩͖̝̰̪͉͈͍̝͎͇̤̳͙̠̳͙̱͆͊̓̀͆̂͂̒̒̾̽̄̚̕͜͜Ç̷̼͎͕̟̱̽̽͂̓́̔́̀͗̿̑́̆̔̕͘K̷̝͖͔͚̟͎̪̤̟̯̪͇͈̪͈̊͒́͗̀͆̅̋͑̉͛̓̏̐̿̓̂̇͠͝ ̷͍̼̣̞̯̗̼̫̝͋̔̏̄͊̌̇͠ͅÙ̷̧̨̧̟̘̬͍̲̹̖̱͎͇̱̼̭̣̱̬̞͚́̒̆̔̈̍̐̐̌̏͘̚ͅP̴͎͇̬̥͇̹̤̲͇̀̓̚!̴̻̻̩̃̽̒̋͊!̴̧̧̡̡̢̯̭̮̪̞̺͇͖̤̲̰̣̫̩̺̮̮̬̊͆̽̿́̈́̀̉͗̓̋́͑͆̓̎̚̕̚͜͝ͅ" Chara screamed, frustrated.

They threw a ghostly knife at them, levitating it by their throat. "D̵̫͕͖͐͛̓͐̓͐́̽̕ǫ̶̱͇̯̿̈́̚͝͝ ̵̪̅̓́̒̌͝Ĭ̷̧̘͓̤̘͆̌͜ ̴̮̺̊͐̾̎ȟ̸̡̧͔̺̎̆͂̎̓͋͑͘͜ͅa̶̙̭̜͓͎͖̞̦͒̾v̸̡̰̄͂̏́̽͆͘ě̴̹̬͍̠ ̴̢̛͉͓̦̺̽̎̑̃t̶͔̥̐o̸̡̥͙̱̩̤͖̟̊̄̉ ̷̝̳̹̩̞͍͓͋̍̒͗g̸̞̬̀̑̇̊̄͗̃͛͛ả̵̡͓͓͙̱̯̯͒̆͑͆̆̈́̕͝g̸̰̳̠͖̣̼͖̟̑͐̈́̒̍̍͘͜ ̵̨̢̫̳̪̝́̈̑̿̾̈́́̇ͅy̶̢̳̦̬̝̬̰̻̟̋͗̆͌̄͗o̴̹͓̥̝͊̓͊ư̸͖̝̳̜̦̯̱̲̈́̌͊r̴̡̻̥̺̥̖̀̃̂͌͑̂̚͜͠ ̵̫̩̞̭̩̅̀̑̿̕͠g̵̮͈̲͕̺͇͈͐̈́͜o̷̢̠͇̓d̷̨̖̪̥͉̟̦͙͉̉̈́̀̏͋̈́̀̒d̸̻̊a̷̻͍̞͂̋̓̎̀̀͌̚͝m̸̨̛͖̲̪͖͗́̑̄̓͋͜ǹ̷̡̦̖͔̩̯͙̆ ̴͔̰̗͚͙̄́̑̌͑̆͗͊m̴̰͈͕͗̅͂̎́͌̈̿͠o̷͕̖̞̠͓̮̓̓ͅͅû̶͓̹͊̔̒̀̾͐͘̕t̵͎́̀ĥ̶̢̪͚̘̮̖͙̇͂̔̉͝ ̵͍͙̤̈́̈̈̽͐̚ä̵̢̰͈̔́̇̏͗͌̕ṋ̸̡̡̫͈͌̕d̴̥̤̪̞̐͗ͅ ̶̗̓̈́̏́̕c̵̤̗͙̤̲̓̑̈́͐̐̂̃́ͅh̶̨̼̣̳̫̓̅̍̈́͆́a̶̟͍̝̫̠̻͒͜ͅȉ̶͈̔̈́͆ṅ̸̦̹̃̕͜͠ ̸̧̖̀̔̉͂̚͜͠y̷̧̺͇͙̥͚̫͍̩͊̉͆ọ̸̠̦̜̑͋́͒̂̚ų̸͈̙̪̦̙̂̌̓͒̈̈́r̷͉̮̭͓̙͕̠͆ ̸̝̪̆̒̊͘͝͝h̴̦̉̄̔̐̀͆̓̄â̴̬̇̓̏͑͗ñ̶̢͔̭̪͗͆̆̚͜d̸͕̣̠̿̃̋̒̀͝s̵̢̮̻͉̣̳̠̘͚̓͋͂̈́̔͘͝ ̷̪͂̉t̴͎͍̻̺͇͕̬͠ȏ̸̥͚̠̐̚ ̷̡̝̰̝̝̝̪̇̔̆̆͜͝ṯ̴̫͚̗͍͒͒͘ḩ̵̮͖̱͗̓̃̓͒̀̚ȇ̸͇̜̘̐͗̌̕ ̸̪̦̦̥̻̳̘͙̀̀̇̆b̸̛͍̺͖̹̬͉̈́̈́͐͂͗̕l̶͈͍̮̗̹̂͌̀͛o̴̩̣̣̱̣̜͊̐͆ͅô̷̱͚̩̖̹̊͐̇́̀͂̍́d̵̨̩̪̗̘̪̻̅͛̒͑ý̴̨̬̝̬́͜ͅ ̶̬͐͋̅̿b̵͔͚̩̪̲̱͒̄ą̷̣͙͔͍͕̮̱͓̆͋̉͝ŗ̸̧͙̞͙̝̪̹̭͐̒͒̄s̸̨̛̝͌̐̄̇̽͋ ̵͍̖̠͔̺̤̍͐̓̓t̶̝̙̼̱̍̇̄̃̔ͅǫ̶̳͍̥͖̲̞̅̆̔ ̸͎̣͕͉̞͂̀̎k̷̢̞͕̹̭̜͔̂̒͆̏̀ͅḙ̸̉̈́͌̽̑̈è̶͓̰̭̬͎̹̠̊͗͑̆p̶̞͕͎̹̾͠ ̷̨̨̨̖͎̞̜̈́̀͒̇̽͐̚͜͠͝ẏ̴͇͉͍̗̠̏̀̉̃̒̕͠ó̷̧͚͍̼̳̼͔͛͑̓̽̈́̕ư̶̦̲̪͙̱̰̙̣̼̆ ̵̦̜̥͇͇͝f̵̗̯̬̽͗́ṷ̷̧̞̙̖̫̮̻̟͐ċ̷̥͕͓̙̤͇̦̰͎͍̻̓ḵ̵̲͑̑̏͐̓̈́́͠i̸̛̤̰̽̓̈́͑̈́̈́͋̄̈́̇̌͠͝n̶͕͚̳̊͑̀̽͑̀̃̌͛̍̏̈́̕ģ̷̭̻̰̜̻̗͙̰̟̠̗͇̼͚̔͌̂̀͗̔͜͝ ̶̨̢̢̠͖̭͇̲͓̰̭̼̼̠̈ͅq̷̫͖̥̤̿͑̎͂̓ǔ̴̥͓̖̺̘̣̬̈̽̇̕i̷͈̞̾̋̃̚͜è̵̢̺̹͍̈́͝ṯ̶̢̛͕̋͌̉́́̈̾̕?̷̧̧͇̻͊̈͑̔͂̕" They stormed away into the Ruins to calm themselves down before going at it again, leaving Frisk in silence at the SAVE point.

These idiots. There was too much pleading being done where none could be taken. It was bugging them, and combined with the questioning statements made by Frisk, this particular timeline Chara was going mad too quickly to be able to control it.

But they had to control it, because Frisk could not take the responsibility of timeline control and use it well. They had observed that when abusing the control to find out what happens when this happens, or what happens when that happens, or what happens when you kill everyone in the Underground. This was their punishment on them for not doing the right thing when they should have, and it must be carried out at all costs.

Having renewed their determination to continue despite all this, Chara returned to the door. Flowey appeared once again. He tried to say some things but Chara was not listening and walked right by them. Flowey shrugged (somehow) and burrowed into the ground.

Several more resets passed before Chara could even get the hang of deflecting all the attacks during the second turn. Each time another monster said something that would try to make them give up and change ways, but Chara would hear none of it. Frisk was ignored too. Their only purpose was to defeat this challenge and move on.

Numbly they continued, losing track of the resets they had gone through as they managed to continue attacking until they finally got to their fifth turn. (Frisk on the other hand kept exact track and knew they had gone through about 50.) Going through that much tough attacking was an absolute pain. Finally, they struck again, for a sixth time, and hit a monster. Whimsalot cried out in pain before turning to dust. Chara smiled.

Finally, they were making a breakthrough.

* * *

 **Whew, that's over. Battle scenes aren't easy to write - and quite frankly, I didn't really write very much of it. I'll try to make it more combatty next time; I want there to be at least five chapters in this little arc that just started. I hope there's more, because this battle is not supposed to be short.**

 **Sorry for taking longer to write this than I probably should have. I had a little trouble figuring out how to put this together.**

 **On the other hand, we've almost reached 3000 views. That blows my mind away that we came that far from just another chapter. Thank you guys so, so much. I really appreciate it.**

 **Aaanyways, enough talking, you're probably feeling like you shouldn't be staying any longer. Thank you for reading, and I'll see you all next time!**

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B̸̢̧̮̠̦̞̙̯̹͈̏͋̔͛͗́́̌͋͘ǎ̸̛̤̱͙̙̘̝̝̠̩̯͉̗͉̘̠͙͍̞̤͇̤͙̌́̒́̿̾̈́̇͝͝͠ͅą̸̨͚̝̥̪͈͉̻̤̖̝͓̟̙̻̯̳̞̗͚͓̭͕̈́͂̔́͊͆̍̌͜͜͝,̵̛̰͉̖͚̻̊͛̄́͒̾͂̈́̔̔̄͌̊̅́̓͆̍̿͆́́̆̏ ̵̨̛̛̰̠͈̞̬̭̘̬̩͓͙̣̦̗͍͔̰͓̞̪̲̘̼͈̏̂̉̈́̑̾͝b̷̧̛̹̩̥͕̹̥̹̠̅̔̆̎̽͐̍̒͑͑͘͝á̶̧̢̛͎̩̟̬̪̱̰̩͉̟̱̹̃͛́͐͐̋̀̽̄̾̈́̂͂̔̇̊̿̌̕͜a̴̧̨̡̡̰̤̘̗̜͈̜͍̯̪͈̪̞̙̤̰̦͂̈́̀͗̂̀̈́́͆̕͘͜ͅͅ,̶̢̧̭̰̩̩̙͓͕̣̬̺͇̱̭͖͙͙̩̞̼͙̒͛̍̎͊̽̋̏̈́͆̀́̓͋͜͠ͅ ̸̢͇̙͎͓̪̤̦͂̓͒̒̋̈́̄̀͠b̴̡̛̩̯̭̣̗̺͕̠̣̀͑̄̀͒͑̕̚̕l̶̞̱̯͓̦̹̺̪̟̞̲̅̉̓͛̎͑͐̿̅̽̈̚̚̕a̸̫͔̗̙͉̭̪͓̬͚̩̪̭̼̪̠͓̯̠̝̫̭͕̎̈́̿̑̎̊̐̑̃͘͝c̸̡̛͎̝̭̲͈̠̫̟̥͋́̾̉͒̓͂̂̊̆́̆̈̀͊̆̊͋͒̄͜͠ḳ̴̡̟̻͎̖͎̲̙͎̞͙̥̘̏̄̂̇̇̈̏̋̃͌͋̎̈́̎̽͑̓͗̕͝͠ ̴̢̨̢̗̱̭̺̮̜̬̹̦̼͍̣̘̜͈͚̤̿̽̏͑͒̓̊͊̽̽͛͋̍͐͊̑̚͘s̷̬͕̹͎͚̥̣̭͙̻̙͈̺̾͜͜h̶̢̨̢̜̪͙̰̳̻͖̲͚̼̹̹̬̬̃̌̀̿̏͌͌͑͆̈̚͜͠ͅe̸̜̥͚͑̒͛̒̉̎͒͝ͅè̸̛̩̼̗͉̪̮̗̤̠̬̲̄͆͒͂̈́͌͗͝͝ͅp̴̨̧͔͇̠͇̰̩̠̟̝̥͚̰̯̤̞͓̈̃̃͐͌̏̽̈͛͆̈́͐̊̎͒͛́̍̌̏̋̚ͅ,̶͇̠͕̳̩̞̳̟͍̠̞͍̳͖̗̳̉͐͋̔̈̋̉̄̂̚͜ ̴̨̢̡̢̧̢̞̞̣̥̝̗̼͉̲͙͍̳̮̫͔̹̩̼̰̽̉̌h̶̢̠͓̭̳͕̟̝̮̠̩̟͇̟̬̙̖̟̒͒̐̍͒̄͗̋̈̇̀̓̈́̊̇̏̃̾̓̇̂́̈́͘͠ͅa̷̟̲͚͋̏͌͋͝͠v̴̢̢̛͇͉̪̩̬͖͇̪̮̫̙̼͙̼̲̠̰͐̾͂̄͒́͒͛̐̈́̌͒͝͠ȩ̴̟̭͉͚̖͖͓̼̰̲͍͗̀͆̃̾̒̄͜͝ ̶̼͇̦͎͉̺͔̮̻̻̮̭̩̯͕̗̹́̒̔̄̎̄͆̔̈͌̀͋͝͝ͅͅy̴̢̰͉͎̯̜̖̠̟̣̹͉̤̫͒̍̊́́̍͗̆̾̄̽̋̂͛́ͅȯ̷̧̯̳̩̭̯̖͕̖̭͖̗̳̘̠̙̤̻͔̙̼̻̪̂́̆̈́ṵ̴̮̜̰̪̜̹̹̓̅͐̓̍̍͌̽̐́͌̕͝ ̶̛̛̫̟̳̫̠̺̯͕͐͗̃͐̾̀̾͑́͋̅̽͘̚ą̶̢̝̼̪͍̤͈̬̲͓͈̯̘̞̥̘͈͂́̎͛͒̿͑̚ṋ̶̡̡̬͓̟̲̩̼͓̝̪̀͐̈̃̉͂͌̀́̀̌̋̓̓͗͛̃͌̕̕͜͜͠ͅẏ̶̢̡̯̯͎͔͇̰̪̲͔̻̝̺͙̹̥͓̠̙͈͍͖̳͚̭͋̆̃͂͂̍̅̐̄̊͗̆͆́̓̚̕ ̸̧̨̜̯̯̹̟̳͙̟̜̦̣̺͈́̈́̌̉̀̆̿́͝Ṣ̷̡͈̗̭̭͈͈͖͖̳͍̰̽̔̍͐͌͆̿͊́̓̓͊́̈́͋̍̎̌͘̚͘ͅǪ̵͎̠̽̔̈͐́̎̅̃̇̍͋̈́͐̾͒̐͊͆̐͆̿̿͒̓͌͠͝Ũ̵̧̡̡̡͇̠̥̳̳̝̣̬͔̠̣̯̳̟̉̓̾̇͆̉̊̂͒̌͊̔̿̐̿̽͐̓̈́̈́͂̃̃́͘Ļ̵̻̟̯̦͕͖͈͔͕̟̙̼͚̺̯̼͖͛̒̌̓̋̀̅̇̈́̊͆̋͂̄̉̉͛̋̈̃̕̕͠ͅͅ?̵̨̛̩̮̤̼̩̦̦͎̠̍́̈́́̇̆̐͂̏͗̊̆͐͂͋́̈́̀͂̕̕̕͝͝?̵̨̨̦̳͖̩͕̻̦͇̱̊̐̈́̈̂̽̔̓̏̇̈́͋̈́̈̈́̈́͑̋́̊͘͝ͅ

N̶͎͈̣͂̀̄̀͂̏̀̊̈͂͜͠͝͝o̴̡̻͚̳̱̞̻̱̮͚̞͚͈̟̦̗͓̲͍̜̭̓̊̌͛̆̆̔̅̐̋͑̂͐ͅ,̵̧̤̮̯̝̞͍̭̺̤̫̂̔͐̓̊̊̓̾̔̀͜͠ ̸̯̖͉̙̥͙͖͇̙͌͛̇̒̿̉͌̉̍̒̂͛̓̉̏́͊́͐̚̕̕s̸̨̛͕̥̤̒̀̎̂̇̂̈͋͋͒̆͐̊͒͌̂̏̐̓̀̏̕͝͝͝i̸̢̡̧̛̫̭̱͚̬͚̪̠̱̝͎̗͕̫̳̤̬̪̋̂̃̾̋r̸̭̺̩̣̦̪̪̊͋̓̄͐̑̎̊̒̚̕̕͜͠,̵̡̞̞͗̽́̀́̕̚ ̴̬̥̠̹͔̞̹͖͈̦̜̰̞̐̓̉͂̑̆́̾̌̔̏̒͂̈́̐̋͋͗͆̊̏̾̔̒͘̚͜͝b̵̟͑͌̔̋̉́̍̏̚͠y̴̰̟̘̰̖̙̯̱̗̮͖̺̬̞̱͉͍̓̀̆̉͗͌̌̀͜͜ ̶̢̩̙̲͚͙̫̤̫͉̭̻̜̻̮̣̰͗͑̋̏͊͌̀̋̾̈́̍̀̍͜͠t̴̡̡̢̨̡̖̳̙̤͔̪̯̯̞̖͙̝̺͛̈́̽̚ḫ̸̛̥̪͈̱̻͍͖̞̭̝̯̝͙͕̼̭̲͙͚̺̞̜̣̄̈́̃́̈̌̈̀͘͜ͅę̶̧͙̤̞͎̰̼̩̰͕͎̓̓̎̍̈́̏̓͂̈́͠ ̸̡̢̢̢̧͇̯̳͉͙̟͕͈̥̭̬̙̝̞̹̥͗͑̋̈́͝w̷̛̬̬̖̍ǎ̴̛̛̟̗̩̦̬̤͙̻̠̯̦̻̹̞̫̟͈͛̌̆̒̒̒̆͐̽̔̏̋̆̄̕͘͘͜ͅͅẏ̸̧̢̥͚̺̤̟͔͖͉̭͔͔͓͖̱̠͔̤̤̩͘,̸̡̨̼̮͔͇̦̺̞̺̜͖̻͖̱͈̖̲͍̺͒͑̉̈́̓̇̒̒̕͜͜͝ͅ ̸̡̛̩̰̤̯̯͎͇̲͔͓͎͚̻̋͊͑̆̾̌́͗͛͑̈̿ẁ̵̜̤͇͈̬̙̣͙̩̩̯̺̍̀̈́̄̈́̾̚ȟ̵͚̺͍̖̻͖̪̥̞͚̭̄͑́͑̈́͒̾͊͒͑̓̀͌͘̚͠͝͠a̵̬̖͍̟̥̹͈̳̮͕͕͓̪̩͓̮̓͛̆̈͌̃̎̀̃̊̚͜͜͠ͅt̵̡̧̛͔͔̗̭̒͆̈́̆̎̀͐̎̈́̃̎̽̕͘͝ ̴̛͚̥̯̥̖̙͓̲̥̼̼̝̤̹̠̈̊́͗̋̊͗̓͛̿̄̽̈̎̇̚͝͠͝͝t̵̡̡͕̙͖̼̙̪̣̯̦̝͍̩͔̠̲̦͓̭̂̉̀́͊̿̍͂̈͌̌́̽̎̊̎̈́̓͘̕͘͝ḣ̸̢̼̥͕̠͔͕̯͖̠̱̖̦̰̰̠̎̆̋͆͋͂̌̃͐̂̕̚̕̚͜ͅȩ̵̨̨̦̖͓̠̙̤̬̞̦̘̯̝̼̟̍ ̴̧͉̤̠̤̩̪̬̤͕͎͖̻͔̱̯̩̭̜̪̟͕̫͔̙̈́̌̃̽͋̓̚̚̚ͅh̷̛̬̜͊̀̎͗̋̾̑̀͗̇́͗͂̈́̋̈̋̿̂̅́̀̃͘̕͠é̷̢̹͓̲̲͓̜̮͚͉͕̯̖̳̲͔̱̱̰̐̈͐͆̔̍̀̅̍̀̏͐̄l̷̼̰͍̺̳̰͓͉̹͚̜̠̤̺͗͌͋ḷ̴̡̨̡̻̻̰̖̗̖̤̦̝̯͉̠̤̯̺̱̻͈̼̅̎̋̍͛̊̐̅͗̊̉̊̃̚͜͜͠͝ ̵̨̨̛̛̺͎̠̟̰̘̳͚̪͕̮̱̺̬̯̟̈́̒̑̒̊̾͑̃͌̐̍̍̌̎́̋̓̌̉͗̎̅̋̚̕a̸̧̛̙̜͖̻̎̑̉̔͐̋̇̓̀͋̀͗͒́́̽̋̎̽͐̓̚͝ŗ̴̨̢̩̦̞̰̟̻̯̗̦̳̘̱̬̬͚̘̭͈͎̖̈́͂̄e̸̼̞̰͙̖̤̼̜͗́̔̒̈́͂͌̆̂̍̆̉̉̒͛̏́͊̕̚̕͝͝ ̵̢̡̛͖̥̼̲͉̞̠̜͖̱͔̦̗̥͉̯̝̭̦̈́̉̾̓̽̇͠m̶̙̮̠̯͙̓͋͊̍̌̈̀̈́̇͑͂͑͋̆̃̚͠ǒ̸͕͎̠͎̖̜̯̥͖̜͒̂̀̓̓̽̎͂͘̕ͅr̷̢̛̛̮͉͇̮̱͚͔͍͎̣̩͖̤̖̆̊̔̈́͗͂̈́́̍͑̈́̉̎̐͒͗͛͆́̚͠͝ţ̶̠͖̳̭̙̬̲̤̖͇͚̳͖̌̒̆̑͊̄̎̊̚͜͠ͅą̷̛͓̭̲͈̤̗͈̠͍̭̳͉̱̭̎̈͛̈ͅl̵̡̩͔͉͎̗͍̜̝̔͒̒͌̎̆͊̒͒͐̈͂͂̄̄̋̈́̿̇̍ͅs̵̨̛̳̹̳͙̦̱̘̜̳̱̮͎͈̝̘͚͊̑̊̔̎̎̀̓̊̇̓̈́͋͒͠͝?̵̡̨̛͕͍̼̬̞̗͔̗̟̣̭̗͖̹̻̻̝̣̙̘̗̓̋̇̚͝͝ͅ


	9. Chapter 8: Pressing Limits

**I'm not dead, don't worry. I just took a looong hiatus on this chapter, sorry. I wasn't sure what to include to make it interesting. I suspect the next three will be slow to come too. Resets are tricky to keep interesting.**

 **Oh well, I guess this will work. Enjoy.  
**

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Chapter 8

Pressing Limits

Frisk sat behind the barrier Chara had created, thinking about the actions Chara had been taking over the past fifty-some-odd resets. It appeared to Frisk that they had completely blocked all incoming communication and put their full attention and determination into completing the task of defeating the army Flowey had assembled. This included the game over messages, which Frisk had a view on, and anything that anyone tried to say to them. So… then, maybe Frisk could take this information in themselves? It might not be directed at Chara in the first place.

Frisk had been wanting to rescue their soul from this horrid massacre that continued going over and over again, and live a happy life. However, Chara had been so intimidating and threatening and powerful that Frisk had never dared to try. It was only after seeing the encouraging game over messages that they had thought there might be hope.

It'd been awhile since they had seen those good, positive days where Sans was happy, Toriel and Asgore were reunited (somewhat) and Alphys and Undyne had admitted their love to each other. Frisk missed those days and wanted to end the resets on one of those. However, with Chara going full force in the other direction, that hadn't seemed like a possibility. But… maybe, if they learned from them and gave them a taste of their own medicine…. They could try and turn the tables on them.

Decisively standing, they began to observe the bars in the barrier Chara had made for them, trying to duplicate them for themselves.

Chara shut the Ruins door behind them once again. It was the last reset of which they had achieved the dusting of one monster, and a step closer to victory. There was only about 50 more to go.

Entirely focused on the battle, Chara dipped into her well of LOVE before Sans even teleported behind them, waiting for the battle to begin before transforming. Sans paused.

"hmm. you seem as though you've gone through this song and dance a lot already."

Chara scoffed, keeping their back to Sans. "Don't play dumb with me. I know you can remember. Just start it already, comedian."

"alright. your loss." Sans appeared in front of them, as the rest of the monsters came forward. Chara transformed, summoning her magically created knives and throwing them blindly through the snow as it flurried up around them.. While they did not know what they were attempting to hit, they knew no matter where they tried to hit, the knives would get deflected. She learned that much from however-many reloads they had done during this battle.

Dodging to the side to avoid the returning knives, Chara leaped when Sans turned their soul blue and sent them upward. Successfully avoiding his strongest attack without taking any damage, they anticipated the direction spears would come from during the orange soul. Spotting some to their left, they charged through the wave, deflecting it off their body and soul as part of the bravery. Turning around to deflect the ones coming from behind them, they summoned their knives in their free hand not holding the shield for the orange soul, preparing themselves for their next strike.

At last, their soul was returned to red as the final wave of spears came, and they barely managed to roll under it. Summoning their knives in the other hand, Chara came up on one knee and blindly tossed them into the crowd. As expected, Mettaton blocked them, while Doggo deflected a couple back towards them. Swiftly dodging the knives with ease, Chara snickered.

"You know you can't defeat me," They said as their soul was turned green and they began to block flames and Gaster blasters from multiple sides as they were assaulted. "Every time I die, I come back, and stronger than ever. You can't hold out forever."

"Maybe so, but the real Frisk can save their own soul and set things straight," Flowey clarified, dodging a knife as it came for him. "And we're hoping that we can hold out until they do."

Chara burst into cackles, not unlike Flowey's signature laugh. "You idiots. Don't you understand? My partner started this whole thing, and they can't go back. Frisk's GONE, for good. I am the one in control now." They patiently waited for Asgore's "slash" attack, some of which were white, and dodged or blocked them with an orange soul. Then, as their soul was turned blue, they carefully jumped between bones that came up from the ground below and spears that went by above.

Flowey looked at them with a critical eye, doubting that their words were true. "I think that soul would lose its determination if they were gone forever. I'm sure they're capable of coming back."

"Well," Chara replied, red eyes glinting as they threw their knives again, "You're incorrect. My power far exceeds that of mere determination, and they will never match it." They began to quickly move to hit the boxes on Mettaton's arms with the yellow soul to escape the area before Sans's Gaster Blasters began to do massive damage to them on the fourth turn. They barely made it without taking too much damage.

"it's knife to know that you think that," Sans said as Chara threw their knives once again, "but I'm sure they can slice through you if they really want to, regardless of how you cut it."

Chara grimaced at the puns, but didn't slow down in their dodging during the next turn, where Grillby's complex flame pattern had to be dodged while in purple mode. Just one more turn and somebody dies. They didn't care who, just somebody.

"Well, a fire can't burn forever," Chara shot back, preparing knives, "and the ashes have to start somewhere." With incredible speed, they threw the knives once again, aim true. Sans blocked most with his Gaster Blasters, but Chara had aimed differently than the last time, and Knight Knight ended up turning to dust instead of Whimsalot.

Flowey narrowed his eyes, looking them over again. "The same could be said for you," he commented, putting on his laugh face. "You can't keep up control forever!"

Suddenly, Chara was surrounded by friendliness pellets. Unable to dodge in the red soul, they grimaced and took a good 500 points in damage simply from continuous attacks solely from Flowey before the turn ended. But they smiled cruelly as they tossed the knives again. "At least I'm not a coward hiding behind an undodgeable attack."

Sans raised his eyebrows. "Are you? I think you're hiding behind more than just that. Suddenly, he teleported right in front of Chara, startling them. "You're also hiding behind a soul you don't own."

Distracted by Sans, Chara had not noticed a spear coming directly for their soul. By the time they had, it was too late, and it pierced it straight through and taken the rest of their HP.

[GAME OVER]

"You're gonna have to try a little harder than that. Our hearts beat as one, and we have the determination to defy you. Give in already."

Chara only began to overcome their surprise as the last Save loaded in. Processing the game over message, they shook their head. "It's not over till it's over…"

Desiring a break from the battle, they headed off into the Ruins to take some time to think about where to go next, once they had finished this battle. First they would bring Frisk along on a second reset to defeat them all again and show them that their power was unmatchable. Then they would, once again, hunt down every remaining monster in the Underground, including the ones they had left behind before such as Alphys and the Amalgamates. With enough LOVE as they had, they could probably bypass their ability to glitch attacks away and eliminate them anyway. Then, at the end of it all they would destroy the universe and reset it, going back to their beautiful punishment of endless genocide.

This simple barrier would not keep them for much longer. They would put an end to it, and crush this resistance.

Flowey strained to look through the whirling snow, trying to find Chara. The rest of the monsters stood ready, waiting for the door to open and the fight to begin. After a few minutes of silence, Flowey concluded that they were taking some time away. He and Sans decided to do the same.

Retreating a ways into the forest, Flowey followed Sans with a worried look on his face. Their defense was not holding up as well as he had expected. Then again, the factor of Chara's extra LV was unaccounted for.

"Frisk hasn't shown up in any way, shape, or form," Flowey said, getting the ball rolling. "What do you think is going on in there?"

Sans sighed, getting to the point where he just wanted to continue. "I suspect that something's got them down… or maybe someone."

Flowey nodded, having come to a similar conclusion. "If this doesn't work, is…?"

Sans paused in reply. "it's almost complete, but I need to redo the work I've already done with each reload. I'm not sure if I can finish it before it's too late."

Flowey nodded, a heavily grim look on his face as he stared into the forest.

At the rate Chara was progressing, things were not looking very bright for the future outcome of this battle.

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 **There we go. Finally finished that. Sorry it's a bit short, like I said… Resets. They bore you if you don't make things change.**

 **Well, all things considered, I think I did a decent job at working it out. We'll see how it turns for the future. I doubt the next chapter will be speedy, but hopefully it won't be so slow as this one.**

 **Thank you all very much for reading, and I'll see you next time!**

W̷̨̛̻̱̫͉͍̗̼̯̼͎͖̥̮̝͗̈̒͋̆͒͌̈́̎͘̕͘é̵̡͕͔͗̓͒̾̈̀̊̃͑̓̈̅͘̚ ̸̦̖̼̺͍͖̲̲̍̅̉̾́ç̷̢̧̱̺̪͓̟̹̼̬̲̖̱̀̅̊̋̀̈́͘a̸͖̹͍̻͖̼̯͉̝͈̺͕̅͌͒̽̕̚̚̚n̵̢̜̩̘̝̱̞͈̹̭̺̳͛̂̄̇͠ ̵̯͎̩͎̽͂̈̈̓͌̆͊̆̕̚̚̚c̸̢̪̫̠̩͎̣͙̻̿͗͒́̒̓̌̏̿ͅl̵̨̡̬̟̖͎̝͉͓͉̳̮̽͊̉̇̃i̷̤̫̲̯̠̥̥̬̰̰͕͐͛͋͐͗̓̍͒̈͒̄̃̕͝ͅm̵̧̢̼̝͙̤̺̤̮̞͊b̷̢̞̪͉̳̬͎̯̣͚̠̻̫̦́͂̄̈͐̆͑̓̈́͝ ̷̧͖͙͈͈͍̜̰̖̱̣̑h̸̫̣͇̳̙̣̦͙̫̭̗͈̅̌͒̿͆̈́̑̽̚͝ȋ̶̦͈͓̹͇̝͉̙͓̗̬̗́̀̈́̒̂̿͒̀̂͘͘͜͝͝g̶̛̤͎̝̬̘̯̙̜̠͍̯̩̲͖̿̈́̅̔͂̈́̄͌̐̈́͝h̷̳̮͕͖̲̥̰͙̟̙̩͙̺̜͔̑́͂̄͂̿͒͒͑̓͛͑̚,̸͈͚̲̅̾̏̿̂͗̈́̓̚͝

H̷̺̏̽i̸̧͐͋́̈͒̾̑̏̒͂͘͝ͅg̴̢͇̳̘̈́̏̿̈́̽͝͠͝h̷̨̫̳̼̳̱̹̣̺̞̻̥̾͒̄̕͘͝e̶̤̪̟͖̻̖̤̼̹͎̩̭̼̩͕̿̒̎̈́͂͗̇̎̎̽̃̐̓̚͝r̶̫̦̬̮̫̹͇̆̈́̋͌̿̋̀̎̽̍̾͝ ̷̺̱̻̝͚̹̝͈̪̆̔̆̚t̷̨̠͇̬̋͌́̈́̓͂̊̐̄̊̿̚͝͠ḣ̶̢̛͉̻̰͉͚̀̎͌͒͑̚ą̴̡̢̭͉͉̙͓̱̱̻̯̌̾̈́̉̿̈́̾͠͠n̷̹͙͛ ̸̢͖̹͈̯̬̦̺̥̘̣͙̒͆̑̇̒̚b̷͇̜͉̯́͗͑͋͐̇̾̏͛͐̃̕͘͘ͅḙ̵̥̮͍̺̭̃͂̌͌͛͋̋̿̄̚̚̕͝͝f̸̢̛̗̭̟̭̯͇̹͉̗̰͂̑̈́͌͛̍̅̋͝ǫ̵͖̤̯̟̣̏̆̾̽̽̀̍͑͋͂͒͋̕͝͠ͅr̴̡̢̖̬̼̞͎͚͈̹̞̝̲̥̈́͋̄͂̔̍̿͋̓́͆̕͘̚͠e̵̺̞̮͙̳͗̀̄̎̈́̉̋̍,̸̙̋

A̶̙̮̍͒͂̑̇̆͛̍̐͑̾̐̓̎͝ń̵̥̹̪̙͇̱̥̜̞̒̌̂̈̒̌̾͌̓͜d̴̗̣̠̈́̿͆̅͌̂̈́̾͠͝ ̷̡̧̧̜͓̙͇̝͕̞̯͊̓͆̍͊͛̏̐̍̓̑̀̒̚̕͜ẁ̷͉̼͓̪̬͌͒̓̅̍͑ȩ̷̳̲̹̞̔̏̆͛́̒͐͗̏̔͐̆ͅͅ ̷͓͝͝͠͝c̷̞͕͚̻̔̋̋̓̃̐̈͋͐͗̈́̏̏͘͠ã̴̝̙͙͙͓̘̭̐̒͒́̒̐͊̚͜ͅṇ̵̛̛̠̖͈̓̐̇̽͆͒̓̇́̿ ̸̧͕̮͈̟̣̭̳̳͕̘͙̐̍̌͐̊̋̉͗̏͘s̵̤͓̙͖͒̍̅̌́̐͛͒͝ẗ̴̜̖̹͙͖̳ä̶̡̞́̉̀̈̿͛̇͆̈̈͑̇͠͝n̷̛̰͓̮̝͍͂̆̐̊̊̿̇̇ḍ̷̨͙͎̤̥̭͓̹̥̉́͆̆̾ ̴̧͈̜̝̖̚̕b̵̧̩͕͕̬̻̰̝̠̼̑͗̄͆͜ͅy̶̨̠̮͕̼͔͚͈̞̟̻̆̎̈́̇̈́̆̄͆͂͝͝

W̵̡̛͈̜̌̐̓̇̒̈́̊̇̿̐̀͘͜͜͝h̴̭̫̬̜̹͈̫̓̊̈́̌͆̌̋̈́̊͝͝͝i̵̢̳̫̪̪̳̟̟̪̩̠͙͉͋ļ̵̢̛̛̯͔̥̮͕̺͓͉̤̥͖͂̅̂̋̾̏͜͠ͅe̴̞͚͈̪̱̬̗̙͊̀̑́́͒̑͂̏͘ ̸̹͎̓̌͐̓̎̕͠ī̴̢͖̗̞̼͚͇͈̳̻̗̹̼̊̃̈́̉͌̉͆̃̆͝ť̶̢͈͙ ̸̨̮̩̺̳͓͎̳̲̼̼͋̆̈́͐̈́́̇́͠ͅb̴̡͚̳̎͛́͂̌͐ͅù̸̢̨͔͈̪͎̫͎̳͓̃̈́̈̽ͅr̷̬̰̬̣͂̅͌̊͜͜͝ṋ̸̨̧̙̦͈̥̣̟̮̩͙͈̝͐͊̍̃̈́̄͘͜s̸̨̢̜͈̼̼̒͂̃̈́̀͒̑̑̋͗̑̈͋͠ ̵̧̛̺͉̱̈́͒̈́̉̿͌ẗ̸͈̼̤́̔͒̄̿͋̀͂̀̉͜o̶̩̗̖͉̭̰̟̒͆̐͒̐͗́̈́̉ ̸̲̑͂͛̈̂̏͒̐̏̽̊̚͝t̶̹͕͚̰̙̺̍̏̀́͌̌̇̓̀̑̿͝͠h̵̨͉̪̝̙̏̂̈́̀̌̚ȅ̶̳̗͙͎̜̖̖̺̻̽͝ ̷͖̟̱̳̤̦̽͗̀̋̚͘f̸̡̻̘͍̀̈̐̆̓͆́͆͌̕͠ͅļ̵̛̻̮̻̖̟̹̦̈́̀͒̄̑̓̌̈̓̿̈́͝͠o̴̭̱̣̜͂͂̐̀͗͛͝͠͝͝͝ō̸̢͓̞̘̝͔̟͉̘̪̙͉̙̟̗̉̂̅ṟ̶̛̀̒́̕

T̴̮̦͕̼͚̥͇͎̭̥͈̜͙̣͊̐̈́̀̊̅̏̂̊̈̋ḥ̷̢̨͓͕̼̺̯̲͉͍̝͐͗̀̆́́̾̅̚͜͝ͅó̴͇̤͆̈́̅̚u̶̲͔̠͂̀́̚g̷̛̯͔̞̩͔͖̬̺̥̅̽̄͌̈́͌̇̀̓̆͝h̵̛̖͆̿̋̐͑̈́̿̊͒̆̂̏͆͘ ̴̛̬̜̍ẃ̷̺͖̦̪̬͔̺̮̭͙̆̉̔̑͛̽͑͛́̚͜͝͠ͅẽ̴̢͙̣̈̆̈̕͘͝͝ ̵̛̼͋̈́͋̿̍͒͋͌̈́̒̈́̕͝͠c̸̢̬̲̤͗a̶̧̢̙̺̯̼̹̜̺̗̔ͅͅn̸̛̛͉̦̫̪̭̞̼͓̮̟̟̖̈́̾̿͛͐̓̈̏͆͠n̷̦̗̅͌͂͝ō̸̡̦͇̤̬͎̟̮̥͗͜ͅt̵̢̢̨͙̞̫̘͎̫̹̹̯̉̈́̓͆̔̔̒͜ ̵̡̨̧͎̤̣̹̤͚͂̌̀̈́͐f̷͔̠̃͊̅͆̆l̶̢̛͖̳̭͕̥͎̝̣̥̺̃̀̏́̾͋́͜y̵̢̝̤̩̩̞͖͓͈̍̊̃̀́̓

Ẃ̸̡̡̨̛̤͓̹͇̰̲͎̠̹͚̂̈́͆͑̍͋̓͌̽͘͠e̶̡̱̻̱̪͈̋̒̄̍̑͐ ̵̢̹͔̭̝̭͉͙̿ẁ̶̢̛̛̥͓͍̺͇̤̄͛̐́̌̀̐į̶̨̤̼̫̙̩͔̬̼̺̽̔̔́̑̀͜l̵͓̱͕̥̟̰̖̥̦͔͙͎̘̻͍̉̒͛̊̾́̈́̿̒̑͛̍͘ĺ̸̦̘̘̯̜͎̗͙̞̮̼͚͕̊̏͐͑̔̈́͗͗̔̄͝ ̷̬̣̞̭̪̝̮͊́̽́́̀͋̈̍̈́̌́b̵̡̠̩̦̤̯̖̘͐̐u̴͎̎̒i̴̫̙̟̪̿͆̎̒͌̃̒̊̐̀͛̈̍͋̚l̶͖͙̼̦̤̲̳̫̗̠̩̩̗͐̎͗̃͐̓͗͋̂͗͊̀͝d̵̨̗̻̱̭̤̣̘͎̜͍͉̯̏͜͝ͅ ̵͓̄́̆̃̕̚ą̶̟͈͕̘̠̯̦̩̼̮̬͇̭́̏̿͐͗̍̕ṋ̶̡̡̛̛͇͎̞͓̙̣̃̏̽̀͌̊͊̅̌̚͝d̷̨͇̲̦̮̥̲̔ ̸̢̢̺͍͔̥̥̩̲̖͇̠̘̟̄̍̉̓̄̑̈́̕͜͝͝ţ̸͉̣͓̺͚̌̓̈́̉̀̈́̽̄͋̒̚͝͝͠͝h̵͖̮̫̱̠̞̟̰̍͛̇͐̉͗͠͝ͅͅe̶̛͓̯̺͍̣͍̱̜̔̊̀͐̎͠ͅ ̵̻͕̞̼̤̺̭̝̗̫͕̩͚̽̅͂͝ẅ̵̡͇̦͕́̏̾̒͐̈͝ǫ̸̞̹̳̬͔̲̫̦͎͕͕͂̋̾͝ű̶̻͖̿̈̐͊̈͌̚͝ņ̵̛͎̦͓̗̼̀͛͑́͆̍̾̿̒̋͘d̸̡̢̢̺͔̠̭̜͎͇̻͓̒͛̈͊́̒̈s̴̬̜̝͉̗̳͔̪̄̈́͗̏̽̋̀̃͝͝ ̸̨̦̺̖͉̝͇̗̭̫͚̹̣̻̹͛́̽ẅ̶̪͎̺̺̪̞͇̩̩̘̖̊́̿͌̿͌̉̚͠i̶̢̧̺̲̹̘̭̘̽̑͂̃̓̓̽͐̚̕͜͠͝ļ̵̡̛̣͔̭͙͍̯̪͖̙̰̪̑̇̎̍̉̇̀͆̂̆͠ͅl̷̛̦̈́̒͂̊͒͗̆̑̊̑̈ ̶̡̩̝̤̥̰͉̼̞͓̄́̈́m̷̧͎͕̺̩̺̖͚͕̗̜͛͜ͅȅ̴̟̝̝̝̗̹̦̬̻̥͗͝n̶̫̦͈͖̟̼̈́̾̓̇̒̓̃͝d̴̛̪̱͎̝̤̻̮̭̦̱̉̏̈́́̍̅̕͘͘̕͝,̸̢̢̻͚̝͇͖̠̹͕̝̍̅̍̆̒̈́̿̿́͠

 **Ȁ̷̘́̀̀̈́͋̚͠s̶͝ͅ ̸̢̨͕̘̹͎̃̀͊̅̓͋̈́̉͑̇̒̕w̴̨̅̅̀̾̃͋͋̅̈́̓̄̇͊ȩ̵̦͚̳̘͎͓̪̮͖̠̮̱̂̉́̑̍̂ ̵̡̘̱̩̗͓̜͓̭͚͕̻̈̀̄͆͐͝͝b̶͙͉̑̋̔̓͐́̌͊͘͘ȗ̵̖̜̯͎̱͎̪͔̠̝̳̰͊̈́̒̚͜i̵̬͈̗̇̿̑͑̉̆͂̾̈͝ͅl̷̼̜̆̾̈́̋̃͌̑͗͘͜d̸̜̯̠̰̻̟͍͕̔̒̈́̽͝͝ ̶̡̡̲͔̫̝̙͕̲̳͙̺̱̂̒į̵̢͕̥̹͎͈̹̠̙̼̓̈́̍̍̋̚̚̚͜t̸̡̞͉̦͕̥̗̻̣̣͙̝̀̈́̇̀̅͑̅͌̉̄̚ ̶̧̡̫̬̫͖͓̅͋͐̒͋͝ǫ̸̘͈̹͙͖͖̓̏͊͗̏̾̇̇̔̔̀̚n̷̨̢̧̲͔̣̱̰͚̮̯̝̯̈́͑c̵̩͓̻̖̼̎͒͊̊̎͛͌͠e̵̪̝͖͓͎̜̜̥̮͚̔̓̾̚͝ ̸̭̰̳̹̊͂̿́̏͌̓̿̃̂̽̑̓͘ǎ̴̺͊̀͠͝ĝ̷̰̣̳͖͕͕̺̜̗͘͜ạ̶̟͕͙̘͇̳͎͇͗͌ͅi̸̢̛͈̩̰̪͚͈͕̺̪̝̇̏̓̃ͅñ̷̛̤̟̤̥̥͕̬͉̣̺͉̪̊͛̅̋̄̎̽̍́͗.̵̧̡̡̱̲̪̜̯̲̊̈́͋̉͘͜**


	10. Chapter 9: Determination and Counterpart

**✋︎ ❍︎◆︎⬧︎⧫︎ ⬧︎ ︎⍓︎📪︎ ✋︎❼︎❍︎ ︎❍︎◻︎❒︎ ︎⬧︎⬧︎ ︎ ︎ ⬥︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎ ︎□︎⬥︎ ⧫︎ ︎ ︎⬧︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎⧫︎●︎ ︎ ⬥︎ ︎●︎●︎ ⧫︎◆︎❒︎■︎ □︎◆︎⧫︎. ✋︎⧫︎❼︎⬧︎ ⧫︎❒︎◆︎●︎⍓︎ ❑︎◆︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎ ︎ ⧫︎◆︎❒︎■︎ □︎ ︎ ︎❖︎ ︎■︎⧫︎⬧︎ ⧫︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎ □︎ ︎ ︎◆︎❒︎⬧︎.**

 **You don't know it'll go that way. How I predict it, it's gonna be checkmate for you.**

 **💣︎⍓︎ ❖︎ ︎⬧︎ ︎□︎■︎ ⬧︎ ︎⍓︎⬧︎ □︎⧫︎ ︎ ︎❒︎⬥︎ ︎⬧︎ ︎. 👌︎◆︎⧫︎ ✋︎ ⬧︎◆︎◻︎◻︎□︎⬧︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎❼︎⬧︎ ◻︎□︎⬧︎⬧︎ ︎ ︎●︎ ︎. ︎□︎⧫︎ ●︎ ︎ &︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎ ❍︎ ︎⧫︎⧫︎ ︎❒︎⬧︎🖴︎ 🕈︎ ︎❼︎❒︎ ︎ ■︎□︎⧫︎ ⧫︎ ︎ ︎ □︎■︎ ︎⬧︎ ︎■︎ ︎□︎■︎⧫︎❒︎□︎●︎📪︎ ︎■︎ ︎ ■︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎ ︎ ︎❒︎ □︎ ︎ ◆︎⬧︎ ⬥︎ ︎●︎●︎ ❒︎ ︎❍︎ ︎❍︎ ︎ ︎❒︎ ⧫︎ ︎ ︎⬧︎ □︎■︎ ︎ ︎ ︎⧫︎ ⬧︎⧫︎ ︎❒︎⧫︎⬧︎ ⧫︎□︎ ︎ ︎◻︎◻︎ ︎■︎.**

 **True, very true. It's too bad Frisk will decide to go that way in the first place.**

 **✡︎□︎◆︎ ⬥︎ ︎●︎●︎ ︎ ︎ ⧫︎ ︎ ︎ □︎■︎ ︎ ⬥︎ ︎□︎ ⧫︎ ︎ &︎ ︎⬧︎ ︎⧫︎ ⧫︎□︎ ⧫︎ ︎ ︎ ︎⌧︎⧫︎❒︎ ︎❍︎ ︎.**

 **I suppose you're right… I imagine being clouded by hate is not an enjoyable thing for the one underneath.**

 **But, as you said…**

 **It's not as if it matters.**

* * *

Chapter 9

Determination and Its Counterpart

"H-h-how many resets has it been so far?" Alphys rapidly loaded a second camera on her monitor to see where Flowey and Sans had called her from. They had unexpectedly moved away from the battlefield and were instead in front of the camera she had placed behind that waterfall in... Waterfall.

"two hundred fifty nine." Sans seemed half-asleep all of a sudden, and his statement of the resets was evidence of why. That quantity made her grow pale and freeze in surprise for a moment. Two hundred and fifty nine resets? Who knows what those two had been through? She knew about the extra LV that the human had since Flowey had alerted everyone of it after the first fight - thankfully the human saved again afterwards - but did not know how much potential it had because she hadn't seen it herself. ...well, she probably had about two hundred fifty times, but she didn't remember. So… She just had to ask.

"H… H-how far are they through…?" Alphys couldn't even finish her question, she was so shocked. Two hundred and fifty nine. Two hundred. Fifty. Nine. Considering it took them 50 resets or so to eliminate Undyne with her determination… That was an astounding number of times to die.

Alphys shuddered as she wondered how many more before this whole thing fixed itself.

Flowey's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she struggled to turn the camera as they paced the boardwalk they stood on. "They've managed to get through about two dozen turns before dying. Three smaller monsters have fallen. Considering the advantage they have, we're lucky nobody else has dusted yet." Flowey paused, at a loss for what to say or do. "Knowing you, you probably don't have any ideas, but… Any thoughts on how we could make it harder? At this rate we might fall."

"Wh-wh-what?!" Alphys stuttered, scrambling to keep the phone in her hands. "Uh- I… Um… I'm afraid I… D-don't."

Sans nodded, unjudging. "that's fine, alph. we'll just do our best anyhow."

Flowey nodded in agreement."The determined idiot has no idea what's coming their way."

Sans suddenly snapped out of his tired appearance, revealing to be more alert. "we should probably get going back to the battleground. the kid'll be here any moment, likely."

Flowey nodded again, looking at the camera Alphys had trained on them. "We probably should. We'll talk again in another timeline, Alphys."

"Uh… Uh… Y-yeah," she said, still slightly stunned by this news. "Um… A-Another time, then."

Sans nodded, and hung up. Alphys stared at the screen as Fowey burrowed away and Sans vanished. She just stood there, frozen, for several minutes, letting that one thought run over and over again in her mind. Finally she sat down and curled up against the desk.

Two hundred. Two hundred times that the human had died. Two hundred times that they had endured the pain of their soul shattering and being put back together. Two hundred times they had attacked the group with merciless intent to kill. Two hundred times… They had failed.

But… They only needed one time to win.

Alphys shuddered again at how slim the chances were for the party. For Undyne.

She couldn't see the speed at which the resets were passing by, but at this rate… She could tell.

Things were going downhill, and quickly.

Frisk concentrated hard, tapping into all the determination their possessed soul had to offer, attempting to create even the smallest object with magic. Having observed the barrier itself for a good fifty resets, and having had practiced reaching for their own soul and tapping into its magic for another hundred, they had now been trying to manifest that magic into a physical object. They had been doing so unsuccessfully for the past fifty resets so far, but having fully tapped into their own determination, and having been encouraged by the [GAME OVER] messages, they were able to push past the constant disappointment.

Once again, they focused, bringing the tapped magic to their hands. In their mind, they pictured any object. They didn't care what, or how large, they just needed to summon something. Picturing this object, they pushed it from their mind into the invisible world via the magic in their hands.

Suddenly, a small, glowing red orb appeared in their hands, floating about an inch above them. It was about the size of an 8-ball, and wisps of magic slowly dissipated off of it.

Upon seeing this, Frisk was quite startled, before smiling proudly. They had done it! They had created an object with her soul! After all this time, they could do it! They felt a giddy feeling swell in them. Excited, they attempted to shape it, turn it into something else.

Unfortunately, it trembled, and cracked to dust and faded away at this attempt. Frisk felt themselves fall away from their high. It would take more practice harnessing magic and sustaining it to gain the ability to shape it, but that was okay. They had some time, they could tell.

Falling back into their patient determinism, they started upon the focus of tapping into their magic once again, preparing another ball in their hands as they interacted with it.

Undyne coordinately attacked who Sans and Flowey were identifying as Chara, who easily dodged the attacks as though they were dancing. Undyne grimaced. She could tell that they had done this song and dance before from how swiftly they did it, but… How many times? How many times had they thrown those knives only to fail in hitting and try again, likely to die?

She confirmed that it was too many times when she saw Pyrope die from a knife cutting straight through it. Glancing back over to the human's face, it was absolutely merciless… How many times now had they succeeded in hitting?

Undyne narrowed her eye, increasing the intensity of her attacks. Too many times.

Far, far too many times they had hit, and they could not continue to succeed.

* * *

 **There is no excuse for how long I took to get this out. I lost interest because of a massive writer's block about what will happen between this and the end of the arc. Don't expect another chapter soon, but if you really like this story, follow it and keep an eye out in whatever notifications box you check for new chapters, because I am determined to get it out eventually and I wouldn't want you to miss out on something you love. This story isn't completely dead and I really don't want it to be until I finish it, because I thought it was a really cool, novel idea and I don't want it to go to waste.**

 **Also, I appologize for another short chapter. I really, really couldn't add much more to this; it's too much of a difficulty to write a scene that goes over and over and over again. I honestly have no clue what I'm going to put in the next chapter. Welp, I guess I'll figure out as I go. (Don't worry about the chapter after the next though - I have most of it worked out already. It's just gonna be the next one that's a real challenge.)**

 **Anyways, for those of you that didn't apply to (and those of you who it did too, for the sake of it), thank you so much for reading, and I'll see you next time!**

 **...**

 **Gosh diddly darn it, the Wingdings at the start didn't translate correctly... oh well, I suppose that makes it even more of a mystery to anyone trying to translate the conversation. :3  
**


	11. Chapter 9b: Progress

**This was going to be it's own chapter, but I've kinda run out of steam on the resets battle topic. So, because further content might be confusing otherwise, I decided to add it as a mini-chapter/an addition to the last one. It's less than 400 words, which is shameful… But hopefully you can enjoy anyway. The next chapter will swiftly be on its way! (More details in end AN)**

* * *

Chapter 9b

Progress

Frisk had counted 549 resets so far. To say the very least, how many times the world had been reloaded was troubling them. Whatever was happening beyond the Ruins door must be worrisome for the monsters. They frowned, swirling their hands as they shaped their magic in the silent, peaceful corridor of the empty Ruins. Hopefully they could fully master it before it was too late.

They were making good progress over the last 300 or so resets. They had mastered shaping their magic and could now do so with ease. They now had been practicing shaping the properties of their magic, so it could do things such as deal damage, or create other magic objects or forces.

The latter was something they were currently testing now. Summoning a 5-foot pole which they grasped, they twirled it in their hands for a moment, getting the feel of it. Filling it with determined energy, they gently thrust it forward a few times. As a result, the staff produced a small visible wave of transparent red magic that had been engineered to push away anything in it's path. Satisfied that it functioned properly, Frisk suddenly turned around and quickly thrust the staff towards the bars on the barrier keeping them in the Ruins.

And as the wave washed over the barrier, it shattered it, blowing it apart and turning it to dust.

For several moments, Frisk just stood there, stunned at the power they had just unleashed. Had they really had this much power in their soul this whole time? No wonder Chara had been able to summon such strong magic, even if it was with the aid of the LOVE they had accumulated. Were they even tapping into the full power of Frisk's SOUL? It seemed they had no clue what they were capable of.

Frisk smiled, excited about their potential future. It seems the ability to Reset was only the beginning of their potential.

Stepping out of the prison and onto the ground below, they used the power of their featureless staff to destroy the rest of the barrier, before creating a fake copy of it.

Satisfied with their work, they decided to continue making more attacks, and harness other methods of attack.

The one thing that concerned them was the faces that Chara made occasionally after loading their saves…

They hoped they wouldn't be too late to the rescue.

* * *

 **Yep, that's it. A short little addition to the last chapter because there wasn't enough that I could write to be interesting… But I wanted to add this before the end of the arc because otherwise it's kind of a time skip and makes little sense.**

 **But don't worry! The next chapter will be coming out soon because it's already mostly written, I think. And beyond that point, this story will (probably) be going at a faster pace because something big happens next chapter and I will no longer be writing repetitive resets and, as a consequence, I have more big ideas to write about.**

 **Still need to get better at those fight scenes though…**

 **Anyways, thank you so much for reading even though my writing isn't up to my preferred standards, and I will see you all next time!**


	12. Chapter 10: Surprises

_**This is it. This is what it all comes down to. All the adaptions… all the change over the resets… all of the determination. It all coordinates here, in this final moment. The universe may very well explode with how coincidental this all is. ...What will happen?**_

 _ **...A-**_ **h** **em.**

 **Okay, enough of the narrative talk. Enjoy the new chapter that's actually up to my standards for once.**

* * *

Chapter 10

Surprises

Chara mentally groaned in pain and frustration as they stood for a moment during their turn, trying to catch their breath. They felt like they had gone through at least a thousand resets, although they hadn't been keeping track. They didn't really care, either, as long as they were progressing. About half the weaker monsters had been dusted so far, and they had attacked at least a hundred times in this reset alone. Somehow these monsters had retained enough determination to dodge or deflect most of the attacks for an extended period of time, and thanks to Flowey they had Chara at 1HP for the second half of it. Needless to say, Chara was annoyed by their perseverance.

One of the main troublemakers in the remaining group was Sans. He was not only using his gaster blasters to cause a lot of trouble and effort to dodge, but he also was using them occasionally to block attacks upon others. Chara hadn't even really tried aiming for him, knowing he could dodge it with ease… So what if they targeted locations where he might go?

Arming themselves with their two fans of knives, Chara carefully calculated the curve of each knife as it would fly through the air, making sure to target estimated teleportation locations, where he might be looking upon teleporting…

Then they threw them with all the force they had.

Reset #952

Flowey stepped away from the oncoming battle for a few minutes to think and clear their mind. Chara had perservered and pushed through their forces for almost a thousand deaths, and they didn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Frisk had not made a single appearance the entire time, despite their pleas to save them. He was unsure if they were just locked away, out of contact, or if they had lost their determination and will to try altogether. Flowey shook that last thought out of his mind. No, that was impossible, or their soul would have faded its color and he would have regained control over the timeline.

So Frisk was likely locked away or struggling to regain control, and Chara was entirely focused in pushing forward and defeating the boss army… And succeeding so far. Flowey needed to think of a way to amp up their own game.

Flowey paused, a thought coming forth. Somebody should absorb the human souls, and challenge Chara for the power of the reset button. It probably wouldn't be enough to put them down, but it would probably help hold them back.

Flowey rushed to the castle and grabbed the souls, pulling them away with his vines before he sped back to the battleground through the earth.

He had just enough time to pull himself out of the ground and reveal that he had the souls before he saw what happened.

Sans, in an effort to dodge a knife thrown his way, was hit by another at the location he teleported to. The recoil from the damage sent him flying, and Flowey knew he was down for the count.

Forgetting his mission to give the souls to somebody, Flowey disappeared and reappeared next where Sans had fallen, bringing the souls along. "Sans! Are you alright? Can I do anything?"

Sans sat for a moment, blood beginning to flow from his chest, before he opened his eyes and looked at Flowey.

He was relieved that he didn't dust immediately thanks to the determination, because it appeared he wanted something.

Frisk sat down for a moment in their illusionary cage, reflecting upon their work. Over the course of the past 500 resets, had customized the rod they carried so it looked more like their original stick from when they first fell down. The staff had

several other abilities now: Twirling it produced several hundred motionless copies of the weapon that shifted through each other, producing an effective shield until Frisk dismissed it. Throwing it or dropping it also caused it to return to their hand, or their back, upon their desire.

In addition to the staff, they had also created several other weapons, meant to be used both offensively and defensively, but those they didn't really put too much thought into. They were easy to create once they had learned how to with the staff, and would be easy to resummon.

The challenging part was creating their own attacks from scratch. They had made two of them: firstly, simple dart-like projectiles that honed in on an opponent's soul (or the location where the soul was supposed to be, for those that didn't), and a beam of red energy that could be projected from their hand or staff.

In addition to these simple attacks, they had recreated some of the basic attacks used by the various boss monsters from their adventures: Bones, spiders, fire, spears, and Mettaton's bombs.

To top it all off, they could now save and load various different locations in time and space to appear as though they were teleporting, even when they weren't in full control of the timeline.

Frisk decided that their work was enough, and any longer in wait and they would be too late. Removing the fake barrier that kept them at the Save point in the Ruins, they began to head for the exit, where Chara was undoubtedly fighting what monsters were left out there.

Time to take back the rights to their own soul.

"give me the souls."

"What?! But you're about to die! They aren't going to help you… Are they?"

"just give me the souls. there's something I need to do before I dust, and the souls will help a lot with that."

Flowey glanced back at the battlefield, a concerned look on his face, before handing the human souls over to Sans. The moment he had them in his grasp, he teleported away. He needed to do this fast.

He ended up, after teleporting, in his Laboratory behind his house. Rushing as quickly as he could without inflicting too much more pain on himself, he pulled the cover off of the machine and began to push buttons.

He had been working on this machine ever since Flowey first took control of the timeline, and over the course of the last few days, he had finally finished it. The device's sole (or soul, heh) purpose was to locate all of the pieces of the one who fell into his own creation, and return him to this world - currently to assist in the defeat of the human. He had been pretty strong on his own, but with six human souls, too…

After the machine began to whir to life, Sans opened the access port to the motor and shoved the six human souls into it. Having used the last of his magic to start it, Sans collapsed, closing his eyes. He knew that the man watching would know what to do.

"hope you can do better… dad…"

Oh.

Yes.

They had done it.

They had finally fucking done it.

They had eliminated that bloody bastard of a comedian from the battle site.

This was going to go SO much easier from this point forward, even if they still had every other boss monster from the previous resets to deal with. They were nothing as long as they didn't have a teleporting, blocking comedian with them. Sure, Doggo could deflect the attacks, but he couldn't block everything, and someone was gonna dust soon. Very soon.

As soon as the next attack ended, of which the monsters had thrown everything they had into, Chara carefully aimed once again. This time, their targets were Doggo and Mettaton, the next two people who were impeding their progress the most. With them gone, there was nobody in the way of having them dust the rest of these monsters and move on.

Having acquired their directions of throwing, Chara let their knives fly. Five knives were thrown in the general direction of Doggo, five in the direction of Mettaton. Doggo saw them all coming and countered them back, but Mettaton could only block four with his mini Metta-bots. Chara grinned, merciless. One more monster down.

And then, suddenly, out of the blue, a skeletal hand with a hole in it glitched into existence, grabbed the remaining knife, and vanished.

Wait, what?!

A skeletal hand with a hole in it… Chara's eyes flew wide open, and they began to slowly step away from the battle, attempting to press the "Flee" button. No, no no no no no no. Not you, please please please please oh please not you.

"Wh⧫︎y w✋︎oul❼︎d you run n⍓︎ow? A⬧︎re you r◆︎eal❑︎ ︎ly that a⧫︎frai⧫︎d of an ol◆︎d frie❒︎n●d?" A glitchy voice was heard booming about the battlefield from nowhere in particular, and nobody but Flowey appeared to know who it was.

All of a sudden, shortly after that statement, a large slice in reality was ripped open in the floor between Chara and the monsters, before that slice suddenly burst open with black mist. Another slice perpendicular to it and all of a sudden Chara was diving to the side as the battleground split into four separate floating pieces in an endless dark void.

Chara knew this power. They remembered their time in the void before Frisk summoned them to this quest. Even Asriel Dreemurr, in his final God of Hyperdeath form, couldn't hold a candle to the power of the void. That power was capable of ripping the world into pieces, literally snapping reality in two. And that was what he was doing now; splitting the universe of the battle zone into separate parts as he emerged from the depths.

Rising through the air on an aura of black mist, Wing Ding Gaster was wearing his typical black cloak, which fluttered behind him as the snowy wind blew through the cracked universe. His hands were behind his back, and 7 floating hands circled around him, each with a different soul color in the hole of it. He stood a good 7 or 8 feet tall, and his face was glitching between one of disapproval and a very, very disturbing smile.

"Chara… you naughty child. You should know better than to terrorize our old friends like this." Gaster spoke, frowning down upon them as he shifted the parts of the battlefield farther away from each other, further opening the endless gaping mouth of the void.

Chara clenched their fists, scraping the knives held between their fingers together in frustration. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE GONE FOR GOOD! WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

Gaster raised a finger, bringing his right hand around from his back. "Quite frankly, so were you, child. And yet here you are possessing the soul of one who doesn't deserve so much agony for what they've done." He then gestured to the general direction of Snowdin. "As for why I'm here, Sans had made a machine over the years that was meant to return me from the forgotten. Within the past few days, he had finished it and activated it before he dusted." He lowered his hand to his side again, the speed of the hands circling around him speeding up. "Now, I think it's time to take you back where you came from. You've done enough to teach some lessons."

As the hands accelerated more, they began to emit bright lights, each of their own color. After a moment, they began to slow down. Chara stepped back a moment, because they had increased in size tenfold. Then they looked all through the void around them. Dozens of hands, of all sizes, had appeared throughout it, of every color.

Chara gritted their teeth. This wasn't going to be so easy after all.

* * *

 **Boom. End. Whew! Finally finished that arc. That probably was the most challenging part of the entire story I have planned here. Well, here's the surprise I hinted at throughout the earlier chapters. It probably isn't a surprise to many of you, considering how much I hinted at it - or at least at the Gaster part. How he returned was probably at least a little surprising.**

 **But anyways, I'll be continuing at this pace most likely for the next section or two. Look forward to some (very hopefully) much more intense and focused combat for the next chapter or two or three. Or however many I make this section; It's gonna be heavy on the battlefield, especially now that Frisk and Gaster have joined the field.**

 **Also, one more thing. Apparently I discovered that this is on the first page in the top favorites and top followers in the fantasy section. That makes me so happy that you guys have no idea. Thank you for helping me make this story by being there reading it and providing me with the inspiration to continue.**

 **All that being said, thanks for reading, and I'll see you beautiful people next time!**


	13. Chapter 11: Chaotic Order

**Pre-A/N: I should have gotten this chapter out much earlier. It was all finished and everything. Why didn't I? Uploading it on my mobile is incredibly difficult, and I never got around to getting it up and running on my computer. I'm so sorry.**

 **Anyways, here 'tis.**

* * *

 **You know how I said that more chapters should be on the way at a faster pace? Well, I forgot school existed. I'll probably be spending much less time working on these but I'll still try to get them out and going.**

 **In the meantime, enjoy the new chapter. It's short, but still. It's a chapter, and I think it's kinda hard for me to reach that 2,000 words per chapter goal I have.**

* * *

Chapter 11

Chaotic Order

Chara tightly gripped their knives as they looked around at all the hands Gaster had summoned. With each of these capable of doing practically any offensive or defensive move, the fight was definitely not in their favor, even with the spare LOVE.

But… Maybe they could turn the tool to their advantage.

Having stepped back a small distance from the edge of their quarter of the battlefield, Chara took a running start towards the edge. Five yards away from it, they threw their knives into the void, at various different angles all arching towards Gaster.

What Gaster did in response surprised them. He stood there until the last moment, then the hands around him suddenly turned their center colors to light blue, triggering a magical force field in between them which reflected the incoming knives back to Chara.

Fortunately, Chara didn't have to dodge the knives because they were still on a full sprint, turning so they were running parallel to the edge as they looked through the void at the various different hands traveling through and around it. Choosing the largest one that was close to them, they leaped over the edge, aiming to land on it. A second and a half of falling and they landed, returning their knives as they fell through the void.

Glancing around quickly to find the nearest hand, Chara took a great leap to make their way back up to solid ground, throwing two knives at the hand they were on and the remaining eight at Gaster in another attempt to hit him.

Gripping a hand half their size, they swung to grasp a third hand and land on a fourth which was slowly rising. During this, the hand they were originally on turned a green color, providing a shield around itself, but that was what Chara had been expecting. The first knife cut right through the shield, and the second knife buried itself deep into the magical bone of the hand, destroying it.

The hands Gaster used did the exact same, all turning green and each putting its own individual shield around him, blocking 7 knives in total. The last knife phased right through him as he and the surrounding hands glitched into another location.

Chara grimaced, leaping onto solid ground as it came down to them. This was going to be another battle and a half to deal with.

Frisk phased through the Ruins door (since they were unable to open it without their own soul) and entered what they decided to describe as chaos. Instead of a simple pathway on to Papyrus's gate, a gaping hole into the void had been opened up, and Hands were floating everywhere, seeming to circle around a location up ahead. The path had been split in half, where each half was a portion of Snowdin Forest on one side of the split in reality.

Fortunately (somewhat), they were still capable of simply floating in the air, so they levitated over to one side and progressed forward. As they neared the gate, it appeared that the chaos only got worse. The universe, or at least in this area, had been split into 4 separate pieces, each surprisingly flat and floating about in the void.

In the center of this division stood a skeletal man that they didn't recognize immediately. He wore a long black cloak, and stood on the void itself, that is to say on a cloud of void like mist. Suddenly, Frisk remembered that, from various unusual clues and monsters throughout their several journeys, they had gathered the identity of a person called W. D. Gaster. They might have met him once, too. Come to think about it, he looked very familiar to them now.

Looking around for others, they noticed Chara running parallel to the edge of another piece as they looked over into the void. Frisk could feel the frustration and anger coming off of them, but they could also see they were very determined to win the fight. Even though, Frisk could feel, that they had lost the power of the save to Gaster.

Frisk held back in the trees and watched as Chara made a great leap into the void.

Maybe it wasn't quite their time to battle just yet.

Not yet….

Chara made a rolling dive as they dodged the incoming yellow bullets from 12 enormous hands. Throwing their knives, they managed to destroy 8 or 9 of them as they continued their relentless assault of magical minigun fire.

Chara needed to think hard, and fast. At the rate this battle was going, they were going to die in a hurry. He hadn't even started using his Blasters yet, and who knows how nightmarish this was going to get if he decided to really get serious.

There had to be some way they could regain their control, their advantage over the battlefield. They didn't even have their ability to load after death: Gaster had stolen it from them. One death and they'd be in the dark from that point forward. Who knows what would happen if Gaster tried to reload to a point earlier than he had emerged. Judging by the potential consequences to the universe around them, they definitely could not lose this battle.

But… there was very little chance they could win. That was the truth, Gaster had far too much power, collective of the power from the void, and the 6 souls that had been collected before he returned.

They couldn't lose, but they couldn't win, either. What would become of this, then?  
Chara threw their knives again as several orange hands came swooping in towards them, shortly turning them to dust. They brought about Frisk's typical determined face, but with more of a glare to it.

Just because they couldn't win didn't mean they couldn't try.

* * *

 **Short, short, short. It drives me mad that I can't make these sort of scenes any longer. Ah well, I suppose it's one of my longer fights I think I've written, so I'm satisfied with that.**

 **Also, despite my attempts to fix the problem, it seems that the cuts I add to indicate a scene change seem to keep disappearing, which is why earlier chapters seem a little too run-together. Maybe fanfiction detects it as a censored curse word and removes it or something. I dunno. I'll see what else I can do about it.**

 **In the meantime, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!**


	14. Chapter 12: Discoveries and Revelations

**Well, I finished this sooner than I expected it to, that's for sure. That might possibly be because of my currently-shameful wordage, caused partly by my lack of fill scenes to the next arc, and partly because of my lack in skill at good fighting scenes. I still really am awful at creating longer fight scenes, as they're difficult to describe in detail and most of them happen faster than the rate being read at. Hopefully I can try and change that a little in the upcoming chapters of the next arc. I really want to try and get at least 6k total words on that, because this rate truly is just horridly execrable in my opinion. ...okay, maybe it's not that bad, but it feels like it is to me.**

 **Ah, well, if you guys don't really mind, I guess it'll do.**

 **Either way, enjoy the inevitable defeat of Chara by Gaster, hehe.**

* * *

Chapter 12

Discoveries and Revelations

Flowey watched in awe as Gaster brought a fresh wave of hands upon Chara, using all seven soul colors in assault as Chara attempted to even get a single hit in on him. To be honest, Flowey was actually a little envious.

What fresh hell had Sans unleashed upon the human? This was more power than even they had with all the souls in the underground. Surely, this was almost unstoppable.

Most of the other remaining monsters had fled upon the release of the void, due to lack of knowledge of what was going on. In fact, only Undyne and Grillby had remained beside him, for reasons unknown.

"Holy crap…" Undyne gaped up at Gaster, finally speaking after watching, motionless, in silence for several minutes as the intense battle commenced. "I didn't know that he was on the verge of bringing the guy back."

Grillby scratched the back of his head thoughtfully, before shrugging. Undyne shook her head at him, smiling.

Wait… Did they know about Gaster?

Flowey spoke up. "...do you know who this is?"

"Yeah, Sans told us about him a few days ago. We somehow got all our memories of being with him back after he told us the story."

Flowey raised his eyebrows, turning back to watch the battle as Gaster used large hands of Patience to grab Chara's body or soul and pull them back into the void. He didn't expect Sans to reveal such deep secrets. Not under his normal, apathetic circumstances.

Maybe this whole ordeal had really inspired him to change, after all.

* * *

Frisk watched from behind a tree as Chara slid by after being hurled through the air by a blast from a Bravery hand. They saw the determined grimace on their face, as they sprinted back towards Gaster again. Once again, they summoned their knives. ...how many times now, had they thrown the merciless objects in his direction? Probably as many times now as their total resets during this battle. Gosh, they were persistent.

But, in addition, Gaster really didn't appear to be truly attempting to kill Chara outright. Did he have some sort of ploy? Maybe he wanted them to try and have a change of heart?

...Well, if he was trying to go that route, this battle wouldn't end well, really. But maybe he had some sort of other ploy going on. What was he trying to accomplish?

Frisk left their hiding space behind the tree as Chara leaped into the void once again, moving to the edge to watch them as they scrambled across Gaster's enormous hands to reach flat ground again. They sat down, swinging their legs over the edge, sighing to themselves.

Whatever he was trying to do, Frisk hoped they'd be able to find out soon. They were getting a little bored just waiting.

* * *

Chara swung around to make a landing on their feet as they came in for a landing. Sliding across the ground, they grimaced. Gaster seemed impossible to defeat - and for good reason, considering… Y'know, all the extra power he had.

But there had to be a way… There just HAD to be. Chara thought this as they sprinted over the edge for another run towards another piece of flat ground…

And immediately regretted it. Eight bravery hands were waiting, surrounding their target hand of landing, ready to blast them into the void.

Reacting on reflex, Chara threw their knives toward the hands and destroyed them, frantically searching for another hand to leap to. Unfortunately, none were nearby, so they attempted to leap back up to the plane they had left. Thankfully, it wasn't much of a leap, and they managed to get their fingers over the top. Hauling themselves upward, they got their shoulders up onto flat ground and-

Wait, WHAT?! What were they doing out?!

Sitting in front of them was Frisk, who appeared to be lost in thought. How had they escaped their prison? That was some of their stronger defensive magic they had set into that!

Frisk realized Chara was in front of them, looking at Frisk wide-eyed. They suddenly smiled, and gave a small wave at them in a goodbye way.

...eh? What was that abou- oh.

Shoot.

Shortly after they waved, Chara felt the ropes of Patience snatch onto them, tugging them away from the edge and back into the void. There was nothing to prevent them from falling endlessly into it, and they scrambled for anything to grab onto as they fell into the inky blackness. Suddenly, an enormous hand, with a hole thirty yards in diameter, appeared a hundred yards below them, red in color.

There was nothing to stop them from falling straight into the center of it, turning their world to black as they fell unconscious.

Subconsciously, they could somehow tell that the control over their soul had shifted… But nothing further stirred from within their mind.

* * *

 **And-a there we go. Another chapter out of the bag. Things are taking a turn for the worse for Chara, and unless they can pull some crazy trick on their opponents, it won't be getting any better from here.**

 **Who knows, though? This story plans to push the limits of Undertale's plot, and already has. How much further can we go with this? ;)**

 **Also, we hit 50 favorites recently. I'm really, really happy about this milestone, and love that so many of you out there like this concept. We're also close to 100 follows, which also blows my mind for my first story on here or anywhere publicly. I'm honored for such achievements. Thank you guys so much, I probably wouldn't be continuing right now with your support, even if it was minimal in clicking follow, or even just adding a visitor to the story each day you come back.**

 **Anyways, in the meantime, thank you for reading, and I'll see you all next time!**


	15. Chapter 13: Talk

**Okay, just because this chapter came out faster than the last doesn't mean that the rate is increased. I had already been working on this one before I even started the last since I had no idea where to go with the story at that time.**

 **Partly because of that, the chapter's a bit longer, but it's also a heavy dialogue chapter, for once after a while since the battle began. Enjoy a bit of converse that Chara and Frisk partake in before the dispute to end it all.**

* * *

Chapter 13

Talk

Chara found, when they regained consciousness, that they were falling through an endless blackness. Looking all around them, they saw no signs of Gaster and his hands, the other monsters, or the battlefield. Just a pure, dark blackness.

...what had happened?

That wasn't a question they currently knew the answer to, unfortunately. Hopefully they weren't stuck in the void again like they had been for all that time. THAT had not been fun at all...

Thankfully, that was a thought which was clarified pretty quickly. A solid white floor, about 900 yards on each side, suddenly appeared far below them as they descended towards it, spreading outwards from its center like a glowing white mist that hardened as it came into shape. Chara braced for a hard landing, but oddly their speed of fall slowed, and so they ended up landing lightly on their feet.

After waiting for a moment to make sure that nothing else would happen, Chara briefly checked their stats.

[HP: 28/28 LV: 3 ATK 3(14) DEF 3(10)]

Chara raised an eyebrow, frowning as they looked over themselves. It was almost as if the entire battle hadn't even happened. They even had the ribbon in their hair still and the toy knife in their pocket.

What was going on?

They attempted to tap into their LOVE pool, and use it if they needed to. Fortunately, it was still there and able to be gotten if need be. Chara sighed. That was something good, at least.

Looking around the white platform that stood in the black darkness, Chara noticed absolutely nothing aside from solid smooth whiteness. ...Well, almost nothing.

About 100 yards away from them was what appeared to be Frisk, sitting down with their legs crossed, watching them. It was hard to tell from here if they had anything planned - who knows what they were capable of now if they broke free of their prison - so they decided to head over to them.

As they approached, Frisk raised their eyebrows at them in a greeting, and leaned over and patted the ground in front of them. Chara narrowed their eyes as they continued to approach. Something was definitely up. Something they had a strong feeling they wouldn't like.

About 5 yards away they slowed down, hesitant to get closer. "You've got something planned that you shouldn't, don't you?"

Frisk shrugged, sitting straight again. "If you mean in regards to battling it out for my soul… sure, I've got some things in store. But for now, I just want to… Sit and chat for a little bit." They held their arms over their chest, scratching the back of one of them. "Like… You know, uh, civilized people."

Chara took a moment to look over Frisk. From what few clues that they could get from their mannerisms, they seemed to be speaking truthfully. So, with some hesitation and suspicion, Chara closed the remaining distance and sat down about a yard or two in front of Frisk.

Chara decided to get their questions answered before Frisk could begin with whatever they desired. "where exactly are we here?"

Frisk raised their eyebrows in surprise. "You mean you don't recognize it?" They paused, a thought coming to mind. "Well, come to think about it, you've probably experienced several other places that are entirely pitch black too, so…" They looked around, gesturing to the black above them. "This is the void of our Soul world. Where you've come to torture me so many times before."

Chara jerked back a little, surprised. "Really? Then why is this white platform here?"

Frisk closed their eyes, sighing. "When you fell into the void, Gaster summoned a hand that would disintegrate our body and capture our soul, allowing him to absorb it. As soon as you regained consciousness, he summoned this platform in here for us to use while he was in possession. Neither of us can do much with the soul aside from function on our own using it. Gaster currently supervises us here." They paused, a distant look in their eyes, before closing them and sighing again. "But I digress. I have questions of my own, here."

Frisk smiled at them, and laid their arms in their lap as Chara mentally moved forward to this new topic, whatever it was. "So… I know you've told me this several times before, but what is your reason for going on half a dozen genocides?"

Chara furrowed their eyebrows, frowning at the question. "Have you not gotten this in your head-"

Frisk interrupted them, raising a hand in a 'hold on' motion. "I know, I know. I know the answer, but I think the question is more for you than for me right now. So I ask again: what's your motivation for going on 6 genocide runs in a row?"

Chara slitted their eyes again, suspicion growing, but they answered anyway. "Because you should know the consequences for your actions, and that your choices can't be taken back."

Frisk nodded. "Right. I understand that, it makes sense." They paused. "Does doing the exact same thing multiple times over feel a justified punishment to you, though?"

Chara frowned. "Why wouldn't it?"

"Well, what if I were to hit a friend of mine, and then to punish me for hitting them, you began to repeatedly hit them over and over? Let me put it that way… would it be logical then?"

Chara paused at that. Well, no. Not necessarily. That doesn't really affect the person who's supposed to be punished, come to think about it.

"So what's your point, then?"

"Are you sure that your reasons for going about this way of punishment is… for me? Or… Are you just taking advantage of a mistake that I made?"

Chara really had to think about that one. Their initial response was "Of course, yes!" But… backed by that last question… Were they really so sure?

While in the front of their mind they always said "I'm doing this because Frisk deserves it…" hadn't there always been in the back a secret pleasure to the killing?

...In fact, oddly enough, that sensation had been growing as they went on and on - particularly during that last battle before Gaster.

Were their reasons for doing this false?

Were their desires taking over?

What was going on anymore?!

No… N̶̹̣͇̍̒̄̍Õ̷͎̻̠̫̤̦̉̌!̴̗̳̣̪̗͊̆̐̃͌

They had to stay in control! Frisk was just manipulating them, trying to return their soul to themselves so that they could do what they desired! They could not let that happen!

They had sacrificed it to them when they first chose to do this genocide, they couldn't go back on their offer!

Snapping out of their thought process, Chara realized Frisk had moved over next to them, hand on their shoulder as if to reassure them. Idiot… Chara thought. In a swift movement, they slapped Frisk's hand off of them and kicked them away, rolling backwards over their head onto their feet. Laughing, they looked over at Frisk, who had swiftly gotten to their feet as well upon seeing Chara's response.

"You really think you could just take back your soul just like that? With a few simple words, you can manipulate anyone, is that it?"

Frisk shrugged, looking back at them with the exact same face of when they were still talking. "LOVE isn't always the answer. Even Flowey learned that."

Chara spat to the side, throwing a single, mocking laugh into the void. "Flowey was as much of a coward as you are. With no courage, you'll never get your soul back." Tapping into their pool of LOVE, they summoned their knives. "̸̥͗̾́B̶͇͔͂̏e̸͙͓͂͋ć̴͇̄͘à̴̧̼̈́̑ŭ̸̢̖̹s̵͙̃̿͠e̸̘̯͝ͅ ̵̱̳͌ỳ̷̡̡̕o̴̡̅̏̓u̶̞̦̽́͆ ̵̮͂͐w̴̭͑͋̃e̷͚͒̕r̴͕̻̬̒e̷͈͌̊ ̵̙̽ǹ̶̡͉̳̂e̵̢̛̺͂͗v̴̙̲͙̀̉ë̷͙r̵̻̉̑̚ ̸̹̦̉͑ṭ̸̙̾̌͝h̸͍̤̬͒̌ẽ̴͕ ̴̣͍͌ŏ̸͇̱̅̾n̵̞͋̎̾ë̴̙̩́̓́ ̷̣̳̅ͅí̵̡̱͒̌n̵̞̦̈́̊ ̵̞̺̓c̶̦͉̔o̴̳̹͎̿̓n̶͈̞̰̓̂̂t̵̛̳̔̏r̷̫̎͋̏o̷̥͚͌͠l̷͇̰͒̐͗͜ ̶̩̞̄ǐ̶̢͎̎n̷̮̦̥̎ ̴͍̑̇̀t̷̹͇͔̍͋̉h̷̘̙̖͑ë̶̝̬͕́͑ ̶͈̺͇̐f̵̦͍̠͝i̷̠̚ṛ̴͌s̶̛̩͈̃t̷̬̫͘ ̸͉͙̐p̴̖̝̪͗̓l̵͚͊a̶̛̰͠͝ċ̶͔̮̏ͅe̸̜̿!̷̙̽͌͜"̸̤̀

Eyes dripping black, Chara lunged for them, malice intentions heavy in their weight. However, Frisk did something they never would have expected from them. As they lunged, Frisk suddenly summoned a magical staff, twirling it to create a barrier between them and Chara. Having expected no blockage, Chara ran face-first into it, staggering backward in lost balance. The barrier vanished to reveal Frisk thrusting the staff forward, and the next thing they knew Chara was flying away from them at an incredible speed. To slow themselves, they dragged their knives through the magical floor, creating ten marks as they slowed their speed.

Back on their feet, Chara glanced up at Frisk, reflexively deflecting several spikes thrown their way. Slowing down to reexamine their opponent, Chara stood up more from their crouched position they had landed in.

Frisk now was standing in a defensive position facing them, staff crossed over their body as they summoned more spikes with their other hand. A magical, transparent red cape now flowed behind them, blowing in an invisible wind. Watching as Chara regained control over themselves, they grinned. "Who says I don't have courage?"

Chara glared at them, hesitating to attack should they make another move. "Determination is not Bravery, idiot. Using the SAVE to accomplish your tasks is a move of true cowardice."

Frisk's grin grew larger, and they chuckled. "I guess that means you're not any better, then."

Chara deadpanned. Did… Did they really just…

Oh, they were so getting it this time.

Chara growled, lurching forward at Frisk again as they prepared to throw their knives. "You aren't getting away with that!"

Frisk summoned flames between them as Chara neared, readying their staff.

"It's the one thing I think I'll get away with for a while."

* * *

 **We now get a bit of an update on the thoughts and reasons of Chara. Are things really as they seem? Probably not, but we're gonna roll with it for now.**

 **Anyways, Hopefully the next two chapters are gonna be filled with interchanging dialogue and fighting between Chara and Frisk, with maybe a little extra thrown in the middle. Keep an eye out if you want to see the rest. It might be a little while before the next chapter.**

 **But in the meantime, thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time!**


	16. Chapter 14: Divide and Reunite

**Good day for a swell fight! Now, go!**

 **Also, over the immensely long time that it took for me to finally not have writer's block on this chapter, we hit 100 followers. That just blows my mind. I think I'll throw a party. You're all invited. Woo! *Fweee***

 **Heh. That being said, thank you all. You're too kind.**

 **Alright, enough of that. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

 **Divide and Reunite**

As Chara lunged for them again, Frisk threw their staff at them before generating many spikes using both of their hands and casting them at Chara. As expected from a new attack, Chara attempted to dodge them but was surprised when the spikes curved back around towards her. Quickly responding after getting impaled by the first few, they fanned their held knives out, twirling them expertly through their fingers to deflect the incoming projectiles.

Chara then turned towards Frisk again, only to find a twirling staff coming straight for their face. Their attempt to veer away from the attack was too slow, and they tumbled backwards from the force.

[HP 494/499]

Frisk blinked at the damage, then narrowed their eyes in determination. As long as hits were being made, it didn't matter how damage they dealt. Progress was progress, especially when that kept others from harm.

Frisk could see them glaring as they leaped forward again, desperate and intent upon getting in a close hit upon them. Summoning their staff once again, they twirled it briefly before thrusting it once again in Chara's direction. They then produced a wave of spears from the glowing ground beneath them, casting it in the direction Chara would land.

Chara didn't fly far, but was quick to get on their feet, running once again. Flipping over the easy-to-dodge wave, they landed on their feet and threw their knives in Frisk's direction. Frisk was quick to react, twirling their staff once again to make a shield, before tossing it behind themselves. Closing their eyes, Frisk dared to use more magic, and created an elaborate spiraling pattern of fire that required Chara to remain running around the outskirts to not get damaged.

Frisk lazily lifted their eyelids, not looking anywhere in particular. "After all that you've done so far, I'm not really surprised that this is the way you're going to end."

Their response was a knife, carving through the fire and flames. "You should say that of yourself!"

Frisk closed their eyes again, arms outstretched as they created four massive bones that turned about them counterclockwise to the circling fire in their wake. "You really haven't looked in a mirror recently, have you, Chara?"

"GrrrrRRAHHH!"

Frisk summoned their staff again as they anticipated Chara's determined approach to pull through despite the damage that they would endure doing it. Not quick enough to do a twirl, Frisk had to hold their staff steady between two hands as an immense amount of force was brought down upon it by the very, very deadly knives. A brief struggle ensued, each foe trembling against the other's force.

Frisk summoned bones beneath Chara, forcing them to break their hold and move away. Throwing their staff in the opposite direction, they created an upward path using their shield-generation ability, before dissolving the staff away. Summoning their staff once again, they pressed it sharply against the ground behind them, effectively projecting them forward towards the end of the ramp, leaving a swirling trail of fire behind them so Chara would have more difficulty following them. Glancing back, they CHECKed Chara's stats as they approached the ramp.

[482/499]

Again, progress is progress, they supposed. Although they didn't have much time for supposing as they ducked several incoming knives. To stall Chara more, Frisk threw some more spikes in their direction as they inclined.

"You're not escaping your punishment that easily!" Chara shouted after them as Frisk stopped at the top of their homemade ramp.

Frisk grinned, turning back towards Chara as they plowed forward. "When'd you get the idea I was escaping?"

Chara leaped once again, sure that they could put Frisk down this time. However, inches before their knives hit, Frisk vanished, and they ended up careening off the slope, which vanished behind them.

Landing in a tumbleheap upon the hard white floor, Chara looked up to see Frisk with their arms crossed in front of them.

"Tsk, Tsk. You should know better than to get tricked like that, Chara."

Chara snarled in return, swiftly getting up and twirling a curving set of knives in their direction. Once again, Frisk vanished, and Chara turned around to find they now held a pair of weapons that seemed to resemble claws. Frisk readily waited as Chara decided to go on the defensive, ready to deflect most anything that came at them. Chara was so focused on Frisk themself that they didn't notice the faded red bones that had appeared behind them and were now approaching them at a fast speed. Frisk sprinted towards them as Chara yelped in surprise and twisted around to dust the bones. A quick release of the grapple they held resulted in a grip upon Chara. Grinning, they twirled, and threw Chara far across the platform. They watched as they flew over to the other side of the platform, somehow landing in a large pile of dust.

The battle had a long ways to go, but so far, things were going well.

* * *

Flowey watched, speechless, as Gaster began to close the gap between the sections of the world, slowly descending towards them now that Chara seemed to have been taken care of for the moment. Undyne and Grillby seemed to be stunned as well.

Upon landing on the ground, Gaster dissolved his floating hands away, closing the rest of the gap of the void and returning the world to how it should be. He blinked, looking over at the three. "It's been so long since I was able to speak with you in person."

Flowey was the first to respond. "If nothing else, welcome back to the physical realm. It's been a while for us, hasn't it?"

Gaster frowned slightly, summoning a small pair of glasses and putting them on. "The void is timeless, so I can't really say. It's seemed a lot longer just watching everything occur, than the actual amount of time that has passed." He paused, lightly smiling. "I'm glad I don't have to stay there any longer, however."

Grillby came forth, arms outstretched as he took off his helmet. "...It's been too long. How could I have forgotten my best friend?"

Gaster chuckled as he embraced Grillby in a hug. "It seems your voice has returned with your memories, hasn't it? You stopped talking almost entirely after I left this realm."

Undyne came forth and embraced the two as well. "It doesn't seem right that the determination you absorbed would cause you to be wiped from existence like that. It's good to see you here now, though."

Flowey was beginning to get curious about what was expected to happen from here on out. "What happened to Chara?"

Gaster's eyes widened, and he coughed as he left the others' embrace. "Ah, yes, about that. I simply claimed Frisk's soul for the moment, and they should be battling for control over it as we speak." He summoned a red-holed hand, which held Frisk's soul in it. Wait a second… Flowey leaned in a little bit, examining closer. Yes… he was right. The soul was shifting colors slightly, a bit of black was mixed into the bright red.

Gaster released the hand to return to the void. Flowey still had some questions to be answered, however. "Did you manage to find out why the determination created by the Core was so unstable?"

Gaster smiled, clearly happy to share some information he had held himself for so long. "Apparently the reason was simply because the determination was artificially created. With the simple observation abilities I had while shattered across space and time, I was not able to find a solution for this problem, aside from the mixtures I already provided for you two, Sans and Papyrus." He summoned another hand, this time with a clipboard, frowning as he looked at his notes from so long ago.

Grillby spoke up. "If the world gets… reset? Is that the right term?"

Gaster looked up briefly at the question. "Yes, the world returns to when Frisk fell, if it is Reset."

"Right, sorry. Anyways, if the world is reset, will you return to your previous state in the void?"

Gaster looked up once again, frowning as he set a hand under his chin. "I can't say for certain what will happen when that occurs. Sans managed to finish a device that he had been working on for a very long time, and activated it to gather all evidence of my existence in one place to give me a gateway back to this world. At the very least, if I return to the void, he can make the repairs again and resummon me. However, based on various occurrences I've observed throughout Frisk's journey, I think the more likely result is that the timeline would change to seem as though I had never left. It happened after I left; why wouldn't it occur now that I'm back?"

"Makes sense to me." Undyne summoned a spear to lean on, feeling spent now that her Undying form had disintegrated away. "So… What's the plan at this point?"

Gaster began to walk back towards Snowdin town, indicating for the others to follow him. "At this point, Frisk and Chara are battling over control over their soul. If Frisk wins and frees themself from Chara's control, I'll release them and permit them to reset. Hopefully we can leave the world in their hands, and let them free us from under the mountain for good."

Flowey appeared in front of them as they continued to walk. "And if Chara ends up victorious?"

Gaster's smile faded, their gaze fixed forward.

"...let's hope it doesn't come to that."

* * *

 **….Aaand we (probably) return to a long period without new chapters. Yaaay.**

 **In all due seriousness though, writing the second half of this scene will probably be about as difficult to write as the first half. In the meantime while I'm moving through that, I'll be posting tune ups on old chapters over the course of the next little while. It usually won't be anything major, just some grammar or spelling usually. Either way, I'll be working.**

 **But thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time!**


	17. Chapter 15: Righted

**Okay, that took much faster to write than I had expected. Welcome back to a new chapter, just a few days after the previous one was uploaded. I guess the stress of my High School Science Fair was real, and having that relieved at the end of Friday got me wanting to work on this.**

 **But enough talk. We come to the conclusion of the battle between Frisk and Chara. How will events unfold…?**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

 **Righted**

Many hesitant onlookers began to emerge from buildings as Undyne, Grillby and Gaster approached the peaceful town of Snowdin. A wave of relief washed over the town as they heard the three conversing together, with laughs and snickers between. Many began to wonder what had happened, and Papyrus was the first to vocalize this as he came forward with a worried frown on his face.

"...UNDYNE? DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS STRANGE SKELETAL FIGURE IS? HE LOOKS ODDLY FAMILIAR…"

"Papyrus, this is Gaster, your father who was lost to time and space. Sans managed to create a device that would return him to this realm, and activated it just before he fell down."

Gaster offered his hand to Papyrus after Undyne introduced them, and Papyrus took it, silent. "...So my brother is dead?"

"For the moment, unfortunately." Gaster gazed beyond them, towards their house. "However, he managed to return me and, by extension, subdue Chara in the process. The temporary sacrifice was worth his life."

"AH, YES, I ALMOST FORGOT!" Papyrus snapped back to attention, producing a few green bones. "DO ANY OF YOU NEED HEALING? I UNDERSTAND YOU MIGHT HAVE TAKEN SOME HITS DURING THE BATTLE…"

"Thanks, Paps, but I think we're all fine." Undyne brushed off some snow that had accumulated on the way to the town. "With the exception of that first attack, anyone who got hit probably fell down on the spot. I'm lucky I even managed to survive that first hit I took."

"On the contrary, Undyne." Gaster shifted his glasses on his brow, looking over at her. "You've survived an instant hit several times before, even if it eliminated all your HP. That aspect of your mixture of determination is… fascinating."

"SO… WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HUMAN? ARE THEY STILL HERE?"

Grillby spoke up. "Gaster currently holds possession of the human's soul. Apparently the entire reason for the genocide Sans spoke of was because the first human, Chara, had invaded this human's soul, and so they are now fighting for control over it while Gaster keeps watch. If things go well, Frisk will overcome Chara and the world will be reset in good hands."

"But that might take some time to accomplish." Gaster put his glasses away, and smiled. "Anyone up for some burgers?"

Grillby pulled out the key for his shop as he began to head towards it. "I can probably make a few. Come inside, we're all going to freeze out here."

* * *

Frisk threw up a red shield as Chara threw another volley of knives at them. Their eyes narrowed as they focused. Chara was becoming more and more furious as they persevered. Frisk briefly checked their HP.

[HP 412/999]

They sighed. This was taking a long time, and things were too risky to continue this way. They needed to find something else they could use to their advantage.

"Agh! That's it! I've had enough!" Chara bellowed, calling forth on all of their strength to create an enormous knife. Swinging it towards the ground with tremendous force, they shouted, "I won't let you escape your punishment!"

The knife was approaching the ground too quickly for Frisk to dodge it, so they loaded one of their saved locations to escape its strike. It slammed into the ground with such a tremendous force it actually shook the platform they were both standing on. In a blind fury, Chara raised the blade and struck it down again towards Frisk. Frisk propelled their staff towards the ground to avoid the strike this time, but the tremendous shock still staggered them.

Then, they noticed. The ground was beginning to crack around the struck area. The platform was breaking into multiple pieces.

Frisk propelled themself high into the air, throwing their staff in a horizontal direction to create an extended platform to run across. Landing steadily on it, they summoned a magical bow they had previously created, and began to fire countless spears down towards Chara as they ran across.

Chara was preoccupied with deflecting the spears that were actually a threat, and didn't recognize the division of the ground beneath them. Frisk smirked as they watched the cracks beneath them shatter, and Chara very nearly slip off of the platform, into the void beneath, the giant knife disappearing into the darkness.

"Better be more careful about your footing now, Chara!" Frisk called out, taunting them. "You just shattered the only stable thing about this combat!"

Their response was a giant leap into the air, with their arms curled around them. Hands clutching knives, they threw them about, creating a giant, circular storm of blades that had an odd pattern similar to Frisk's flame pattern they had performed earlier.

Frisk responded quickly. Leaping off the platform, they summoned their grappling claws and swung underneath it, avoiding the blade storm by swinging underneath it. As they descended towards a large piece of the platform, they landed one of their claws on Chara. Pulling them out of their massive knife-summoning fest and towards a gap between two smaller shards. Rolling into their landing, they turned, seeing Chara use some knives in their hands to curve their trajectory away from the gap, landing on a further platform before hurling the knives in one hand toward Frisk at high velocity. Frisk did a quick SAVE LOCATION before propelling themself over the knives and towards Chara. Summoning bones underneath them, Frisk caused Chara to leap away towards them, onto another smaller shard. Frisk smirked again as they fell towards the platform.

It looked like the tides were finally turning.

* * *

Chara leaped away as bones emerged from where they were standing. If anything, Frisk had proved a challenging opponent this time, even if they were annoying. But all that they needed was one hit, and they were down.

As they slid to a stop on a new shard of the once-whole platform, they were surprised to see Frisk fall into the very gap they had tried to land Chara in. Pausing for a moment, Chara readied some blades, anticipating Frisk's emergence from the hole.

*But…

*Nothing happened.

Confused, Chara tossed the blades towards the hole, once again anticipating Frisk to fly up into them.

*...Nothing happened.

Ready for anything, Chara hesitantly approached the gap, gazing into it.

*...Only blackness.

Chara looked up, and grinned. Frisk had fallen away, and had left them victorious. What an idiot.

They turned around, and suddenly saw an object flying incredibly quickly towards them. Too slow to react, Frisk hit them square in the chest with their foot, causing them to stagger backward towards the pit. Losing their balance, they swung their one remaining summoned knife backward towards the other platform shard, in a desperate attempt to save themself from falling into that void. They had had enough of falling into voids recently, and didn't need another one ending their existence permanently.

The knife struck ground, and they gripped it tightly with one hand as they dangled from the floating shard. They couldn't take their eyes off the void below as they swung back and forth, clutching their blade.

"Looks like you're in a tight situation there, Chara." Chara looked up to see Frisk towering above them on the platform. They noticed an outstretched hand, extending towards them. "Need a hand up?"

Chara narrowed their eyes. They knew that taking that offered hand meant a surrender. "Why would I take it from you, after all this time?

Frisk lightly smiled at them, summoning their staff in their other hand. "Because your only other option is to force me to make you fall into this void and be evicted from this soul, having your entire existence from this point forward erased, even if I RESET." They knelt down, providing their hand to be grabbed.

Chara grimaced, and summoned a knife in their free hand. The instant they did so, Frisk raised their staff, ready to thrust forth and project them into the void. Their other hand still remained however.

"You should realize that if we both die in this soul, it shatters permanently, and we leave the timeline in Gaster's control. He can't reset to the same point as us, and who knows what state we leave the universe in? You don't want that to happen to our friends, do you?"

Chara grimaced even more. _Our_ friends. Frisk made it seem as though they were still cared for, that the monsters considered them a friend too.

But their grimace dropped. They were right. Their purpose was to punish, not to leave the world in chaos. Even if it meant being unable to accomplish their own goal, they didn't want to permanently leave the world in an odd place because of it.

Sighing, they dropped the knife in their free hand and took Frisk's. Frisk's smile got a little larger, and Chara felt a little pain in their palm as they were hauled up.

"There. That wasn't so hard to do, was it?" Frisk stepped back, giving Chara some space to move after getting them up. Chara didn't reply.

After getting on steady ground, Chara examined their palm to see what the pain they had felt was. The delta rune had been magically engraved into it, except there was a ring above the winged circle. ...A halo. Go figure. Frisk had disabled their summoning abilities, and now held complete control over them. They closed their eyes and sighed. It was over.

"You gonna try and resist any more, or have you accepted your position?" Frisk had dissolved their staff, and was now standing with their arms crossed in front of them.

Chara glared back, slightly annoyed. "How demeaning of a way to put it." They closed their eyes again, nodding. "So… what now?"

"Now?" Frisk closed their eyes, extending their arms outward. "Now we save the world."

* * *

Frisk focused. Having subdued Chara and forced them to surrender, they were now a tagalong in their soul as opposed to a potential controller. Frisk held control over it now.

What Frisk focused on was slightly impossible to explain. They focused on everything around them; The shattered platform, the black void about them, the exterior of the soul, its link that Gaster held onto, the strength of the other 6 human souls that were, too, connected to Gaster, and the endless, empty power of The Void that thrummed behind his soul. They focused on the physical universe within Grillby's, and the souls of everyone in the location: Grillby, Undyne, Papyrus, Doggo, Asgore, Mettaton, and many, many more. They focused on the happiness they felt, and how much more could be had in another time.

Focusing on all of this, they gathered their magical strength, and severed Gaster's connection to their soul.

* * *

 **And there we conclude on another cliffhanger. One more chapter is upon us before we reset. I don't expect the hiatus to be long between this and the next chapter, so keep your eyes peeled for it.**

 **Also, we're nearing 13,000 views on the story. This blows my mind, that this story is this popular is crazy. Thank you guys so much for your support and interest, I couldn't have done it without your presence. I hope it's been worth the wait.**

 **That all being said, Thank you guys for reading, and I'll see you next time!**


	18. Chapter 16: Once More

**Bah…. I hate things that delay the publishing of chapters, i.e. life and writer's block. They're always fun to deal with.**

 **But that aside, the genocide's almost over. The pacifist timeline has been initiated. But… a few things have changed. And, like always, there will be something new for Frisk to experience as they traverse to the barrier to confront Asgore. How will Gaster play a role in their adventure…?**

 **Anyways, enjoy.**

 **Chapter 16**

 **Once More**

Gaster was happily playing a game of poker with Grillby, Undyne, and the dogs when it happened. Frisk's soul had gone incredibly quiet, and they had stopped paying attention to it for the time being. It was then when they caught them by surprise and completely freed themself from Gaster's grasp, entirely free of his volition or permission. He was so startled he fell backward off his stool. His clumsiness was quickly made up for, as he teleported into an upright position as he saw Frisk's soul appear before him, glowing a bright, healthy red. He almost summoned his hands, but he second-guessed it, holding them at ready just in case. The other monsters got up too as the soul floated away from them, towards the door.

It stopped in front of the door, pulsing brightly. A swirl of magic emitted from it, and Frisk's body formed around the soul, hands behind their back. They smiled as they looked about at everyone in the room.

"I'd hug you all, but it would neither be suitable nor memorable for most of you."

"How about those of us that remember how it was before, then?" Gaster relaxed, extending his hands in an offer.

"I can't really hug Flowey, and Sans isn't here right now…" Frisk frowned. "I may as well just apologize for choosing to explore this path and dragging you guys into it."

"I forgive you, Frisk," Gaster replied, "But I'm not the one who was killed over and over again by your partner."

Undyne grinned. "As long as you're not gonna keep doing it, you're cool with me."

"Even though I probably won't remember this, I look forward to a future peace." Grillby waved from behind them, still seated at the table.

Many of the other monsters cheered in agreement. Frisk sighed in relief, and smiled.

"Then I suppose the time has come for me to end all of this." Frisk pulled up the SAVE screen, hand on the reset button. "See you all on the surface."

The monsters waved, shouting farewells, and then Gaster felt the ebb of time as the world reset. A moment of fear fell over him for a moment. Would he return to the void once again? What if Sans forgot how to bring him back, and he was once again lost to space and time? So many things could go wrong with this.

When the magic finally died away, Gaster found himself in a bed in a room he didn't recognize. He felt like he had just woken up from a night's rest, and now was in a dim room with the curtains closed. He looked around and saw a clock next to the bed. 6:30… Gaster could see a thin ray of light emerging through a curtain over a nearby glass door. Getting up, he parted the curtain and found a small porch, protruding over the side of the house. Snow. Snow everywhere. ...So he was in Snowdin, at least. He let the curtain fall back in place and found a light switch, making his way for the door. Placing his hand on the knob, he softly opened it.

One look at what was behind made him realize exactly what was going on. His initial prediction was correct: The world had reset with him inside of it, and so had adjusted itself to compensate for his existence. He now lived in Snowdin with Sans and Papyrus, and the missing rooms in the house had been replaced. He had been without a room for so long he had forgotten what it looked like.

Suddenly, his phone rang. The ringtone's volume startled him, and he scrambled to get the phone before he woke Papyrus. (He wasn't worried about Sans, he could sleep through a hurricane.)

"Hello?"

"Um- H-hey, Dr. Gaster. I-I hope I didn't w-w-wake you, eheh."

"It's fine, Alphys. I just woke a few moments ago." Gaster returned to his room, searching his closet for a lab coat and a long cloak to wear. "Did you need something?"

"I- I, uh… y-yeah, there's something kind of urgent that you need to see. I-I've been monitoring the determination levels overnight and… I think I spotted something that's important. I don't know for sure, I'm still an apprentice a-and all, but-"

"I'll be over to see it shortly, Alphys. Let me just prepare myself for the day first." After brief farewells, Gaster hung up. He sighed.

Looks like his reunion with Sans would have to wait for a little later.

* * *

Frisk sat up, once more beginning on the bed of flowers. Standing up, they began to head off towards the large cavern ahead. Flowey stood before them as they entered the cavern.

"So… You did it. What now?"

"I plan to go for the surface as per usual. Would you do me a favor and play along?"  
"I can try, but it'll be hard to slip back into that mood after what happened. I'm just so ready for all this to end..."

"Hey." Frisk knelt down next to them, cupping his head in their hands. "Just stay determined. Everything's gonna go fine from here on out."

"I hope so…" Flowey sighed, then smiled up at them. "Well, see you around."

He burrowed into the ground just before Toriel entered the room. Frisk stood up to face them.

"Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you…"

Frisk smiled, patient.

Things might not be interesting quite yet, but it gave them time to cool off after the recently intense battles.

* * *

Grillby awoke, feeling fresh and awake for a new day. Wait… hadn't he just been working in his bar a few minutes ago? ...and so many people were there? Hadn't Frisk-

...Oh. Right. Frisk had reset.

Wait… he remembered? He remembered what had happened? Why was that? He hadn't had any determination experiments.

...Was it… Was it because he had remembered what had happened to Gaster, thanks to what Sans had said of him?

...Until further notice, Grillby could only work off of that. He'd have to find out later.

In the meantime, he prepared for another day of work. Putting on a fresh suit, a clean tie, he grabbed a pair of gloves and went downstairs to open the store.

It was not long before some of the people around town came in to have some breakfast. Shortly after many people had entered the diner, Sans came in to get something. As usual, everyone greeted him when he came in, and Grillby waved silently as he came up to sit at the bar. He usually hid it better, but today he could see the worry in Sans's face about what had happened after he dusted. After frying another burger for a waiting customer, Grillby leaned over to him, speaking in an arbitrary code he hoped that Sans would understand, as someone who remembered the timelines.

"I heard you got hit hard in the head with a stick the other day."

Sans furrowed his skeletal brows at him, before raising them in realization. "ah… yeah. it look alright now?"

Grillby leaned back slightly. "It looks like Gaster patched you up well, I can't see any injuries at all."

"I… uh… yeah. that's good to hear." Sans stuttered, surprised at the mention of Gaster. "did the kid make up for the damage, or…?"

"They've made a few plans, and it won't happen again." Grillby grabbed a rag and wiped off a nearby counter where a customer had recently departed.

Sans sighed, and Grillby could feel the relief. "ah, that's…. that's good." He furrowed his brows again, looking again at Grillby. "...where'd you hear that anyway?"

Grillby would have smirked if he could. "After you introduced me to your father, we became good friends. He informed me of the incident."

Sans leaned back a little, startled. After a moment, he smirked, and leaned upon the bar again. "well, it's good to hear I'm getting so popular around." He paused, chuckling. "anyway…

"got any good burgers to make today?"

* * *

Alphys paced between the control panels, biting her lip as she hastily switched between graphs while she waited for Gaster to arrive. She was very, very nervous, but a tinge of excitement stirred behind it.

She wasn't sure, but she had a strong feeling that the last human was in the underground. If that was indeed the case, someone would surely collect their soul, and they could all go free! But… It could also just be another strange, totally normal phenomenon of the underground that she hadn't learned about yet.

The large door to the lab slammed open, startling Alphys as Gaster came in, a serious look on his face. She scrambled to load the determination levels on the nearest panel, sweat beading on her forehead as she panicked.

"A-ah, Dr. G-Gaster! I'm sorry, I d-didn't have the graph loaded! I need to be more prepared for your hasty arrival, I wasn't prepared at all…"

"It's fine, Alphys. I wouldn't expect you to be prepared for the rate at which I prepare for work." He pulled a pair of glasses from his pocket, fixing them on his brow as he summoned a pair of floating hands to grab a clipboard and pen. "Now, let's see what you observed here."

Focusing on her task, Alphys swiftly pulled up the panel, as well as a handful of other factors that had changed with it. "Th-The determination level had been fluctuating between 8.3 and 8.5 detrems for the past few weeks, but about half an hour ago it spiked to 10.2 and hasn't gone down yet. The detrem individual max has also shifted from the previous maximum of 0.8 to 1.6, and the LOVE value seems to have gone haywire. I'm not sure, but these values seem to indicate that a human has fallen from above?"

Gaster's eyebrows raised, and he glanced down as he wrote some indecipherable notes on his paper. "I would make the same conclusion, Alphys. Good work, you're getting better." He pressed the button to call the elevator, smiling at her. "I'll be down in the lower floors of the lab investigating this further if you need me." He stepped into the elevator and disappeared from view.

Alphys squealed as soon as the door had closed, excitement building over her nervousness. Oh stars, she was so excited. There was finally a human in the underground that she could actually see in person! Surely they were going to try and head for the surface, but she couldn't let that happen! Yes, she wanted to see the surface. Yes, she wanted to go free. But there was so much more opportunity with a human in the underground! She had craved adventure for a long, long time. This was her chance!

Giddy with excitement, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and immediately dialed Mettaton. She had a plan, and that human wouldn't leave the underground as long as she saw to it.

* * *

 **And here we go. Sorry for taking so long to release this, again. Writer's block is always fun to handle, and I'm sure that those of you who are making stories of your own understand. Nonetheless, I'm still working on this story.**

 **Anyways, thank you so much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!**


	19. Chapter 17: Reunion and Reveal

**I can't promise I'll go any faster on posting new chapters, but I appreciate you guys for being patient. Of course, I suppose there's always other stories that tickle your fancy as well, huh? ;)**

 **Anyways, here's a new chapter. It's not my longest piece of work, but it's not my shortest, either. Either way, enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

 **Reunion and Reveal**

Frisk closed their eyes as the heavy door to the ruins banged shut behind them, their misty breath floating away before them as they sighed. Ah, Snowdin. They had never gotten used to the chilly air that mysteriously was connected to this region. They had only seen it once, through all of their resets, but when it snowed here, the snowflakes were so large they could visibly be seen by the human eye, and it was one of the most beautiful things they had seen in their life.

...Certainly prettier than anything on the surface. Magic definitely made everything better.

They continued along the path to Papyrus's gate, and heard the footsteps of Sans behind them.

"...so…. is it over?"

Frisk turned towards them, arms open. "Want some proof?"

Sans' permanent smile became genuine, and he stepped forward. "heh… you never were one for many words."

He brought his arms together in a hug, but as soon as he was about to touch them, they teleported to a previous save location, deciding to prank him a little with their newfound abilities. They could practically see his startled face as he staggered back in surprise. He began to turn around, and Frisk teleported behind them again as they turned to check. Silently summoning their staff, they touched it lightly to Sans' spine, snickering.

"Got you to let your guard down."

Sans paused, frozen, before chuckling. "guess that's more proof than a hug to me. didn't know you had teleporting capabilities."

"I learned them in the background while Chara was engaged with your army." Frisk dissolved the staff away, still a smirk on their face. "I think a certain skeleton is coming down the road to check on you. What say you to _rib_ some puns to him?"

Sans' smile widened, eyebrows raising. " _tibia_ honest, I think that's a wonderful idea. come along."

Hastily, they crossed the bridge and Frisk hid behind the lamp. Papyrus shortly came down the road, a disapproving frown on his face.

"something botherin' you, bro?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT'S BOTHERING ME, SANS! IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RECALIBRATED YOUR PUZZLES! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?"

"actually, bro, I decided to _throw you a bone_ this morning and go on ahead and do that. I've gotten a _skele-ton_ of work done, as well."

Papyrus facepalmed at the second pun. "UGGHH… WHY DID EVEN COME HERE TO TELL YOU THIS…" After his reaction to the pun, he brightened up. "WELL, IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU'RE ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING FOR A CHANGE." He paused, glancing over at the lamp. "ALSO… WHAT'S THAT LAMP DOING THERE?"

Frisk's eyes widened at this question. He had always ignored the lamp in past conversations at this point. Something had definitely shifted in the timeline. They made a mental note to themselves that they wouldn't reset again.

Sans quickly covered both their surprises with an answer. "I find it useful when I'm patrolling during the night. It's handy to have some light, eh?"

"YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A NIGHT SHIFT!... URGH. I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES! AS FOR YOUR WORK… KEEP PUTTING YOUR _FOOT_ TO THE PEDAL! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

He swiftly left again, and Frisk emerged from behind the lamp, an eyebrow raised. "He's never acknowledged the lamp before."

Sans nodded, looking down the path him with furrowed brows. "yeah... something seems off. care to help me figure out?"

"I'll see what I can do amongst your shenanigans." Frisk winks at him as they progress down the trail, heading for the SAVE point. They giggled, thoughts turned to what could be coming next.

Well, let the humor come. They're ready for it.

* * *

Gaster frowned as he looked at his blueprints and statistics, brows furrowed in frustration. Since he had returned to the world, he had been analyzing his old papers for the CORE, and trying to figure out what had gone wrong in its cooling systems. So far, he had found very little to work with, not to mention that the control room was still hazardous even if he had managed to figure out the solution.

Grumbling, he tossed the papers aside, getting up from his desk and heading for the door. This was useless. He had to get into that control room to figure out what had gone wrong, otherwise he couldn't do anything to solve this. He passed through the halls towards the elevator, taking it into a higher level of Hotland.

He needed time to think, and he hadn't been providing himself with it.

Slowing his pace as he stepped out of the elevator, he walked to a nearby rail, grasping it as he gazed at the magma, deep below. Surely there was something they could do to get that excessive determination out of that room.

...Come to think of it, why did they have that room directly above the magma pit, anyway? Why not seal it off? Talk about a flaw in his design.

Wait a second… Flaws… Gaster's eyes widened, and he rushed towards the elevator before pausing, realizing he could teleport back to his office.

After appearing, he immediately scrambled through his papers, finding the blueprint for the determination chamber. The determination chamber could only hold so much substance, so what happened to it when it overflowed…? Examining the paper, he noticed an emergency vent on the side that would allow it to dilute over the boiling magma of Hotland, but if an excessive amount of determination was produced, it could provide a serious hazard for the monsters. He glanced at the door, trying to estimate how much had been produced.

If his calculations were correct… The local monsters could be in serious danger of absorbing unstable determination soon. That wasn't good, and he needed to get to that control room.

Suddenly, a thought came to mind. The human souls were capable of absorbing the determination without breaking down. Perhaps… Perhaps if he could get Frisk into that room, they could absorb the excess determination and make it less hazardous. It wouldn't be particularly harmful to them, but it might have some side effects.

Gaster sat down, leaning back and taking a sip of his coffee as he calmed down for a moment.

Frisk would need to hurry.

* * *

"SANS… OH MY GOD. IS THAT… A HUMAN?"

"actually, I think that's a rock, bro."

"NO- OF COURSE THAT'S A ROCK, SANS! I WAS TALKING ABOUT WHAT'S IN FRONT OF THE ROCK!"

"oh, that. yeah, that's a human, paps."

"OH MY GOD!"

Frisk snickered at his antics. Even though they've seen this before, it'd been a while, and they've missed the jokes they half-intentionally throw at each other. They could tell Sans felt the same way, judging by his big smile (in perspective to his typical).

"HHYUUUUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE TAKEN TO THE CAPITAL! THEN… THEN…! ...I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S NEXT. -IN ANY CASE, CONTINUE… ONLY IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Frisk came forward to Sans, both of them chuckling. "You'd think he'd learn what happens to the humans sent to the capital if he's that ambitious to become a royal guard."

"I think undyne skipped that section of his training. it's one thing I'm happy she did, to be honest. it's kept him innocent and allowed him to keep up his bright, enthusiastic mood."

"I suppose that's true." Frisk continued down the path, walking backwards as they talked to Sans. "Well, see you up ahead."

"yeah, you too." He was about to walk away and take a shortcut, but his phone rang in his pocket. As he checked the caller ID, Frisk saw a surprised look on his face, and paused in their stride as he answered. "hey, what's up? ...yeah, they're here in snowdin forest with me and paps. why do you ask?..." His eyebrows raised, his smile fading. "...really? how long do you think it'll be? ...we can try, but there's quite a few obstacles between, including paps and undyne. ...dad, I can't teleport that far with another person, you know that. besides, paps is having a good time with them so far. and the riverperson is out of town for the present, we can't shortcut that way yet either. ...yeah, we'll see what we can do. see you soon, dad."

Frisk stepped back towards him as he hung up, an eyebrow raised. "That sounded important."

Sans closed his eyes and sighed, putting his phone back in his pocket. "it was. that was gaster, and he needs you to get to the core as soon as possible. it seems the malfunctions of the past are going to cause dire problems for us monsters pretty soon if they aren't fixed, and he needs your help to handle it. he didn't tell me what the problem was, but it seems he can't handle it himself."

Frisk nodded, a determined look on their face. "I'll be sure to progress as quickly as possible. We probably shouldn't wait around much longer then."

"indeed. I'll see you ahead." A quick wave, and Sans vanished. Frisk turned around, sighing as they looked at the road ahead.

Hopefully things would go okay…

* * *

 **And so concludes the chapter. Hopefully nothing bad happens, but I can't promise that. Generally speaking, these next chapters should be good roads and good weather, if I don't suddenly shift the plot from what I currently have planned. Either way, that's all for now.**

 **Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!**


	20. Chapter 18: Redemption and Rejoice

**Aaaand that took far too long. Ahh… Writer's Block, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways.**

 **But never mind that, I've posted a new chapter. (Surprise surprise, you're reading it. Who knew?)**

 **Also, I'm considering writing a sequel (if short, unless I come up with more potential material) to continue the story after the barrier is broken, as per usual in a Pacifist run. Leave a review to let me know what you think of the idea, if you're interested.**

 **But enough of that. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 18: Redemption and Rejoice  
**

Frisk smiled as they stepped off the bridge, the "WELCOME TO SNOWDIN" sign facing them as they entered the town. Ah, they had missed the liveliness of Snowdin upon their first entrance to the town.

...Come to think about it, they had missed just about everything there was to a pacifist route. 1,000 resets on a genocide route and multiple runs before that really took up some time, and it'd been a while since they'd seen just about anyone when they weren't cowering in fear.

Unfortunately, they had work to do, and the CORE to be at. Making a quick SAVE at the local Save Point, they went into Snowed Inn to book a room for the time, and went up to take a rest. While they did need to get to the CORE as soon as possible, they could spare a moment to check in on a certain someone. Besides, they could always just LOAD; that's why they SAVEd just before doing this.

Closing their eyes, they tapped into their soul, transporting themself into their own world.

Time to see how Chara was doing.

* * *

Dark.

Darker.

Yet… Darker.

The darkness kept growing, the shadows cutting deeper.

Chara paced back and forth, dwelling on this. While the world around them was indeed dark, that's not what they were looking at.

...During the previous timelines, they had become more and more intent upon bloodlust - or rather, dustlust.

...They couldn't deny it. Frisk was right.

The way they had gone about their punishment hadn't been logical, and had nearly driven them into madness.

If Chara had really, ultimately wanted to let them think about what they had done, they could probably have just sealed them away for ten thousand resets and let them dwell on their actions.

...Just… Just like Frisk was now doing with them. Heh.

-Speak of the devil. Chara snapped out of their thoughts as they heard the distinctive whoosh of Frisk approaching, a body representing their presence. They gave a quick glance in their direction, before sitting down, lost in thought.

Frisk's footsteps were as gentle as their voice as they approached, seating themself next to Chara. A silent moment passed, before they spoke. "How are you holding up?"

Chara sighed, not looking up. "I'm doing okay. What are you doing here?"

"I figured I'd come and check on you, make sure you weren't getting too hopeless alone."

"Misery loves company, I guess." Chara leaned back, absentmindedly desiring a knife to twirl between their fingers, as something to occupy their hands. However, they said nothing of it, and glanced over at Frisk. "I… I owe you an apology."

Frisk, glanced over, eyebrows raised slightly. "Are you sure I'm the one you owe it to? You started out doing the right thing, in the situation."

Chara glanced away, reconsidering their statement. "Well… no. I owe it to all of them, all the monsters. I shouldn't… I shouldn't have taken so many innocent lives in my effort to bring justice. ...That only made the matter worse."

Frisk nodded in acknowledgment. "I think we can both say we've learned the consequences of our actions from this, huh?"

Chara nodded, and they both fell silent for a moment.

"...You know, it's kinda a shame that you can't have your own soul again."

Chara scoffed at that. "Why do you think that anyone would be willing to have me back, after all I've done? Nobody would accept me out there."

"I can think of a few people who remember you from before. Grillby, Gaster, Toriel, Asgore, Gerson… Asriel."

Chara stirred at their stepbrother's name. "You're not able to bring him back, remember? He doesn't have a soul anymore."

Frisk furrowed their brows, a determined look on their face. "I have a feeling there's a way, some way or another." They stood up, smiling down at Chara. "Anyways, I have things to do. See you around, Chara."

Chara paused for a moment as Frisk's magical body dissolved away as they returned to the physical world. They sighed, returning to their thoughts.

This next timeline seems…

Very…

Very…

….Interesting.

* * *

Gaster lightly turned the knob on the front door to their home, still getting accustomed to having property once again. Peeking in, the house appeared to be empty.

"Papyrus? Are you home?"

…

No response.

Gaster closed the door behind him as he entered, using a spare hand to flick on the lights. Heading upstairs, he made a beeline for his room to change out of his lab coat into something more comfortable for home use.

As he put on a long sweater, he heard the distinct sound of a teleport downstairs, and he figured Sans had come home after a break from watching Frisk. It occurred to him that he had never actually seen Sans use the front door for the house, and he chuckled as he got up and went downstairs to see him.

He heard the fridge close just before he entered the kitchen, and stopped just as Sans turned around, a sandwich with ketchup on it in his hand. They both paused upon seeing the other, frozen in each other's eyes. After a few, long moments, Sans spoke.

"hey…"

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"how long _has_ it been? 30 years, if you count all the resets?"

"If my calculations and memory are correct, it's been 60 or more. You have changed a lot since then, Sans."

"damn…"

"But never mind that." Gaster stepped forward, extending his arms. "Come give your old man a hug."

"heh…" Sans smiled, embracing him in a strong hug as he used a flare of magic to set his sandwich aside. "yeah, it's good to have you back, g."

"Indeed. I've missed having objects to interact with, as opposed to merely observing them." Gaster stepped back, releasing Sans from their embrace. "On another, more serious note, please do hurry Frisk through to the CORE if you can manage it. Time is of the essence, and resets don't save new locations."

"are you not able to teleport them there, even with all of your power from the void?"

"You know it's unsafe to teleport another soul that far of a distance, Sans. And taking them through the void could leave dire, permanent consequences on their soul, and I'd prefer not to risk it."

"arright, I'll see what I can do." Sans was about to head for the door, before he paused, turning back. "you feel that?"

Gaster raised an eyebrow. Oddly enough, he had. It seemed like a short flare of determination had flashed by him. "...I did. Are you aware of what it is?"

Sans returned to the kitchen to grab his sandwich, seating himself upon the counter. "I think the kid might've just SAVED, and based on their behavior on the way in here, they might be taking a break. I think we have a few minutes to chat before we resume our work, yeah?"

Gaster smirked. "Always coming up with excuses to stay off the job, aren't you?" But he grabbed a tea bag from the cabinet, putting some water to boil as he did so. "You're right, however. We should catch up after all this time." He set his teabag aside, as Sans ate a bite of his sandwich. "How was it raising and managing Papyrus on your own? I do hope you didn't have too much trouble?"

Sans smiled, his permanent grin widening. "I learned enough from you for it not to be a hassle, and the rest wasn't too challenging to figure out. attempting to bring you back, though… that was another story."

"Even if I hadn't been watching the whole time, I wouldn't doubt that statement. I had not dabbled in the arts of the void back then, and you didn't have my expertise in science in general. I'm honestly surprised that you managed to accomplish it at all." Gaster's teapot had finished boiling, so he poured a mug for himself and put his tea bag in it, before turning to Sans in question. "Would you like some?"

Sans waved his hand dismissively in response. "this'll be fine, thanks." He bit into his sandwich before responding with clarity to Gaster's statement. "heh, that's probably been the one thing I've been determined about this whole time. I didn't want to lose you forever, dad…"

"Unless I stupidly walk into a determination-hazardous room again, that's unlikely to happen." He removed his tea bag, discarding it before taking a sip. Mm… Golden flower tea was always a favorite of his, just like Asgore. "And now that I have Frisk to work with, I may be able to provide a more permanent solution to the CORE's issue. I just have to get them there, first…"

"I'll see what I can do, g." Having finished his sandwich, Sans hopped off the counter, putting his hands into his pockets. "welp, probably should go check in on 'em. see you around, dad."

"Farewell, Sans." Gaster waved lightly as Sans vanished, teleporting away. Leaning upon the counter, he sipped his tea, thoughtful. He needed to check in with Asgore, and on the elevators' conditions in Hotland. If his predictions were correct, those elevators may need to evacuate a large number of people into higher levels as Determination began to collect on the first, should the problem not be resolved.

Gaster sighed, setting his tea aside as he returned upstairs to put back on his lab coat, even though he was technically done working for the day.

He still had some work to do.

* * *

Sans took a few quick shortcuts around town, searching for his younger brother. He hopes the dogs hadn't stolen one of his bones again, as that would have driven Papyrus very mad.

He finally found him on the outskirts of town, lost in thought on the path to Waterfall. He was pacing back and forth, skeletal brows furrowed. He appeared to be waiting for Frisk to arrive.

"hey, paps. what's up?"

Papyrus jumped, startled. "SANS! YOU SPOOKED ME! WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU DOING THERE?!"

"I figured I'd check in on you, see how you were doing. gotta be a good older brother, eh?" Sans winked at Papyrus as he continued. "anyways, I also wanted to let you know that you might need to capture the human later."

"WHAT?! BUT IT'S ALWAYS BEEN MY DREAM, SANS! WHY ON EARTH WOULD THE HUMAN BE PERMITTED TO PASS? MUCH LESS, A REASON…" Papyrus appeared incredibly disappointed at this information.

Sans quickly tried to reassure him. "don't worry, bro. you'll still get a chance. it's just that dad needs to get them to the CORE as quickly as possible due to an emergency that could threaten many monsters in HOTLAND, and we need as few delays as possible."

"REALLY? WELL, IF IT'S AN EMERGENCY, I SUPPOSE IT WOULD BE OKAY… THIS WAS MY CHANCE THOUGH, SANS. I CAN'T JUST GIVE IT UP."

"don't worry, bro. I can arrange for them to come back and let you capture them later. they just need to get through here with minimal delays, alright?"

"REALLY?! OH, GOOD! I WAS WORRIED FOR A MOMENT THERE!" He paused again, a thought coming to mind. "WHAT IF UNDYNE CAPTURES THEM ON THEIR WAY, THOUGH?"

"trust me, paps. they can get past undyne, no problem. I've seen them in combat and they've got some dodging skills."

"ALRIGHT, I BELIEVE YOU SANS! NOW, IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME, I HAVE SOME PLANS TO MAKE FOR THE BATTLE! NYEH HEH HEH!" Spirits uplifted, Papyrus sailed away, off into Snowdin and presumably towards their house. Sans smiled after him, then looked over at the river, sighing.

Hopefully Frisk could actually manage to do that afterwards...

* * *

 **And there we go. Another chapter finished; another excessively, unnecessary long wait. To those of you, if any, who have been following from practically the very beginning, I appreciate your patience with waiting for so long for new chapters.**

 **But in the meantime, thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next time!**


	21. Chapter 19: Fishy Conversations

**A new chapter faster than I was expecting to write it. I may have taken a lot of time all at once to write this.**

 **Regardless, enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

 **Fishy Conversations**

Undyne gasped, waking with a start in her bedroom. She glanced around, somewhat confused and bewildered.

...what had happened? Was… Was that all a dream?

No, it couldn't have been a dream. It was too long to be a dream, not to mention how real it was.

Wait- Frisk. Gaster. Grillby's skills. Combat.

Reset.

Undyne's eye widened in realization. Holy hell. She remembered.

She remembered the previous timeline.

She remembered the endless combat, Sans' death, Gaster's emergence from nowhere. She remembered Frisk appearing in Grillby's bar and resetting one final time.

She… Remembered everything.

Suddenly, her phone rang on her bedside. Scrambling up to get dressed, she picked it up and looked at the caller. Seeing it was Alphys, she picked up. "'Sup, nerd?"

"O-Oh, hi, Uh-Undyne! I was actually c-calling to tell you… Uh… Um…."

"Tell me what, Alph? I haven't got all day! Fuhuhu!" Undyne laughed as she began to put on her armor for her patrol and duties as the guard captain.

"I wanted to tell you… I think a human's entered the underground. A-and this is the last one, too, so w-we can go… Go free!"

"Really? That's great news, Alphys!" Undyne smirked, realizing she already knew that, but she played dumb. She didn't figure she was normally supposed to have this ability, so she didn't give away that she had it. "When did you find this out?"

"Um, l-last night. The determination levels spiked and the maximum DT per soul has also spiked and neither of them has gone down since, so I'm really excited because-"

"Well, it's great to hear that, Alph." Undyne cut off her rambling before she got too far, as she had very little idea what these things actually were. "I'll be sure to keep an eye out for any humans on my patrols, and tell the other guards the same. Is there anything else you needed?"

"N-n-nope! N-nothing at all, j-just wanted to, uh, alert you t-to that fact! N-nothing more, eheh…."

Undyne figured she had something else, but she let it slide. "Alright, I'll talk to you later then. See ya, nerd!"

After a nervous farewell from Alphys. Undyne hung up. She sighed. "It's not over yet, is it, Frisk?" She looked towards her door, getting up and grabbing her helmet.

"You can't use your soul to break the barrier, otherwise we'd probably have left by now… and with your abilities, why would you sacrifice yourself that way anyway?"

Grabbing the door handle, she went out towards her front door. "No, Frisk…

"You have other plans."

* * *

Frisk passed through town to the point where Papyrus usually met them for their battle. As much as they wanted to stay and chat, they had little time to waste if they wanted to save the monsters from the hazards of their own genius construction. Any battles they had along the way would slow them down unnecessarily.

The unusual blizzard that occurred at the pass slowly approached as they progressed down the path, but surprisingly, Papyrus did not appear at its peak. Frisk furrowed their brows as they continued, wondering what was going on. They hoped that nothing bad had happened to him.

They came forward, to the first Echo Flower of Waterfall. Fortunately, Sans was still at his post, and so Frisk decided to see if he knew anything about it.

"heya, kid. hope you plan on making swift progress from here on out."

"I sure hope so, Sans. Speaking of which- have you seen Papyrus? He wasn't there to engage me in battle on the edge of Snowdin."

Sans smirked, and came around the side of his post. "heh, I have indeed. would you care to walk-n-talk with me a bit down the way here?"

Frisk took the first step, heading for the rock waterfall. "Sure, Sans. What's on your mind?"

Despite the need for haste, Sans's steps were somewhat slow-paced as he talked. "so, I convinced paps to let you by for the time being by letting him know that dad wanted you for an emergency."

"Really?" Frisk's eyes widened, surprised at Sans actually taking action to hasten them along. "It would appear this last timeline's changed you, Sans."

"our success at reviving the real you's inspired me to keep working." Sans winked, holding back the rocks at the waterfall with his blue magic as they crossed. "though, about my persuading paps, there was one condition on which he accepted."

"Oh?" Frisk continued, stepping out of the water and continuing towards the dimly-lit reeds ahead. "What might that be?"

"oh, it's fairly simple really. just that-" Suddenly, Sans's eyes widened, and with a sharp raising of his hand and a quick flare of magic, produced a bone wall to protect Frisk from an incoming spear.

"Sans, you had better not have been brainwashed by that human! Is that why you've gotten this far without any stoppage?!"

Sans sighed, dropping his bone wall as the spear lodged in it disintegrated. "it's not what it looks like, undyne. I'm escorting them to the capital, and I've received orders from dr. gaster that they're wanted alive."

"Really now?" Undyne leaped down from the darkness above, fully suited in her armor. A booming thud echoed about the chasm as she landed, blocking the path in front of the tall grass. She scowled through her helmet as she crossed her arms in front of her, looking down at Sans. "Why didn't this go through me first? After all, I'm above you in command."

"for one, g's my dad, and for two, he's of higher rank under his majesty than you are, as the royal scientist. so he doesn't exactly have to go through you to get to me." He stepped forward, eye flaring. "now, if you don't mind, we have places to be."

Undyne stood there a moment longer, looming over him ominously. Finally, she stepped aside. "Know I'll be calling him shortly to clarify this truth, Sans. I don't want you pranking me again."

"prank? I'd hardly prank you about our freedom, undyne." He winked, turning around as they passed. "that'd be _inhumane_ of me."

Frisk snickered, but Undyne made no response as she let them pass. She stood tall and straight, like a professional guardswoman, but Frisk caught a hint of a glint in her eye as they proceeded to wade through the grass.

Once they were well out of her earshot, Sans continued, describing Papyrus's condition for letting them pass. "anyways, you're just gonna need to come back and fight paps later. that was the condition for letting you by."

"Ah, okay. That's not so bad." Frisk smirked. "Certainly not as bad as getting interrupted by Undyne, am I right?"

"heh, you got that right." They continued through Waterfall together, Sans's presence and conversation stopping the average monster from attempt an encounter or assault.

Finally, Sans stopped in front of his telescope, sighing. "well, I gotta check in with g and paps and make sure that everything's goin' fine on their ends. I'll check in with you later, yeah?"

"Alright. Take care, Sans." Frisk waved as he disappeared, before heading down towards the glowing waters. They took time to listen to the Echo Flowers as they passed.

...Wait. Was that… Flowey? Flowey had… replaced the passing conversation?

"It's all over soon."

"We'll be free!"

"We can live in peace, and harmony!"

"And there'll be sky, and the stars…"

"Just you wait and see. We're past the worst of it."

Frisk thought about these statements, smirking as they continued. Flowey was providing some hints to the local monsters of what was occurring. How clever of him, although the majority of them probably won't catch on. Maybe they ought to put a few messages themself.

Perhaps later, they thought. Frisk decided to continue down the road.

* * *

"AND THAT CONCLUDES OUR INTERVIEW OF MUFFET, A BAKER AND HER SECRET TO OFFERING PASTRIES AT ABSURDLY HIGH PRICES - AND SELLING! TUNE IN NEXT TIME ON MTT GUEST HOUSE! COMING UP: A PREVIEW OF METTATON THE MOVIE XXVII, TO GET YOU READY TO GO WATCH IT YOURSELVES! FOLLOWING, AN EPISODE OF METTATON THE MUSICAL, THEN OUR BRAND NEW LIVE GAME SHOW AT 7! I'LL SEE YOU THEN, BEAUTIES!"

After the cameras were carried away, Mettaton got up and shook Muffet's hand in appreciation. "THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR COMING ON TODAY, IT'S BEEN A PLEASURE HAVING YOU HERE."

"Oh, no problem, dearie. It's everything I could ever ask for, ahuhuhuhuhu~" Muffet giggled as she took his hand, gingerly shaking it before grabbing her bags. "Well, I should get going, dear. The rest of the spiders get anxious when I'm not around~"

"I'M SURE THEY DO, MS. MUFFET. WELL, THANKS AGAIN FOR COMING ON, I HOPE YOU DO WELL AND HAVE A GOOD DAY."

"Oh, I'm sure I will, Mettaton~" Muffet chuckled as she departed, leaving a couple of pastries with the crew as a gift.

Mettaton left them behind, as he couldn't eat them with this body, and went into another room to charge, and make plans for tomorrow's show schedule. His prerecorded Mettaton the Musical series gave him some time to plan ahead, as opposed to doing everything spontaneously.

He was beginning to virtually process his thoughts for a plan when Alphys gave him a call. Excited to see if she was finished with his other body, he picked up. ALPHYS, DARLING! HOW'S THAT NEW BODY COMING? I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HOW THE FINISHED VERSION LOOKS!"

"I- ah, it's going okay, Mettaton. I was actually c-calling for something a little more important. I've been checking the-"

"MORE IMPORTANT? ALPHYS, DARLING, WHAT ON EARTH COULD BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN MY NEW BODY? I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR AN ETERNITY TO SEE IT IN ALL ITS GLORY!"

"...p-perhaps a human?"

"...OH? THE LAST ONE IS HERE? WHAT ABOUT IT?"

"-W-well, maybe we could bring them on the show as they come through. I-I was hoping we could maybe do a series of shows where y-you maybe pretend to attempt to kill them, but then I come to save the day…? ...No, that's a stupid idea, why'd I think of-"

"I'M AN ENTERTAINER, NOT A KILLER, ALPHYS. BUT I LIKE THE IDEA! OOOH, I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS FOR TOMORROW! AND IT COULD START WITH OUR LIVE GAME SHOW TONIGHT~ LET ME COME DOWN TO THE LAB, ALHPYS! I HAVE SO MANY PLANS I CAN DISCUSS WITH YOU! I'LL BE ON MY WAY IMMEDIATELY!"

Without even giving her a chance to respond, Mettaton hung up and fired up his booster rockets. His processor began running on hyperspeed, not only making the plans for the day, but also making the exact scripts for each individual upcoming live shows. He considered doing an interruption mid-Musical, but he would do that later after he briefed his plans with Alphys.

Ohh, this was going to be so much fun.

* * *

Frisk uneasily stepped onto the long wooden maze where Undyne usually encountered them, a little nervous. She hadn't intercepted their travel before at the bridge. However, Sans had been with them at that time, and Frisk assumed that she had believed his claim on their first encounter. However, he wasn't back yet to "escort" them through this area, so they were a little unsure if Undyne would assault them.

Their first few steps were hesitant, and while it seemed clear, Undyne had a tendency to catch them off-guard. Sure enough, a spear appeared through the ground in front of them, before Undyne cried out from below.

"I knew he was juking me when he claimed he was escorting you! You might not have Sans under your belt, human, but that doesn't mean your soul is free to walk about down here!"

Ah, crap. Time to run. Frisk, having memorized the path through the maze, hastily made their way to the dead end where Undyne usually dropped them off into the dump. Once there, they paused, turning around to face her.

"Undyne, Sans might not have been escorting me, but he was right about Gaster. He's talked to him and I understand there's an emergency in the Core he wants my soul to try and fix. I kinda have to be there alive in order to help him."

"Hah, you think I didn't call him to make sure? Of course I know that! However…" She glared, summoning spears above the bridge between them. "I don't think he'll mind if you're a bit battered and bruised, huh?"

Frisk put on a terrified and shocked face as Undyne hurtled the spears toward the platform, splitting it in half. However, shortly after it began to fall away, Frisk decided to test out their magic and see how effective it was in a physical form, rather than within their soul or in an ethereal form. Summoning their grapples (and their cape with them), they grappled to the platform Undyne still stood on, swinging to and fro as the rest of the platform descended into the darkness. Smirking, they called up to Undyne, "You're gonna have to try a little harder than that!"

before descending slowly towards the dump to SAVE.

* * *

Undyne clenched her fists as she saw Frisk descend into the darkness, then relaxed her grip and laughed quietly as she walked away. So they had, indeed, acquired more magic than just the ability to SAVE and RESET. Their final duel Undyne planned to have with them was going to be interesting.

She sighed, closing her eyes as she went back around to take a detour to intercept them later.

She couldn't keep up this facade of ignorance forever. Sans certainly hadn't, she observed that much from spying on his conversation with Frisk as they had passed through. They talked as though they had known each other for eons, and judging by her remembrance of his explanation of the resets, they probably had. She wondered what kinds of secrets of the past they knew, of what had occurred. ...Why they were still down here, if Frisk had gone through all these resets in an attempt to set them free.

...Had anyone else had that power?

She decided to stop by her house for a bit, to grab a bottle of cold water. She wanted to be ready for their fight, and maybe to chat with them afterward. She wanted to inquire more into this ability she now had.

Because, oh, boy, if the fight went to plan, it was going to be an exciting one.

* * *

 **I think this is the longest chapter I've written yet, and it didn't even take that long to do.  
Cheers, I think writer's block has decided to go on vacation for the moment.**

 **I actually planned to add more to this chapter, but it was getting long enough I decided to split it into two. First time that's really happened, huh? I may write the second part quickly, or it may take a long time as these recent chapters have been. If you're still interested, and don't want to keep checking back daily, be sure to follow so you can get those juicy notifications.**

 **In the meantime, thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next time~**


	22. Chapter 20: Spar

**Decided to skip the dummy fight, as I had nothing planned for it and it would probably have been super boring if I had left it in. We find Frisk selling some wares in Temmie Village, where Sans comes to update them on the Hotland situation.**

 **On another note, we've reached 20 chapters. I honestly wasn't sure when I set out if I would make it this far, but we've made it. Hopefully we can make it the rest of the way in a reasonable amount of time as well.**

 **All that aside, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 20: Spar  
**

Frisk handed the excited Temmie the ballerina shoes, getting showered in coins as a reward. They giggled, before waving goodbye as they left the shop, intending to proceed through Waterfall.

"that temmie really seemed excited to buy those shoes from you." Sans leaned against one of the outside signs, winking at Frisk as they passed.

"You might even say they were _dancing_ with glee when getting them." Frisk smirked, stopping opposite him. "Hey. How's things going up ahead?"

San's smile dropped as much as it could, a worried look appearing upon his face. "not great. gaster's sent an order to evacuate all monsters from the lowest levels of hotland because the unstable determination ejected by the core's overflow could rise to a hazardous level over the area soon. you'll still be okay to go through there, but for us monsters it's a little more hazardous. he's also installed some airlocks on the lab so that it's safe to continue investigating the problem."

"So we're still in the clear for the moment?"

"it won't be long, frisk. you're gonna need to hurry, we don't want anything problematic occurring there."

"I'll do my best, but it might be difficult. Undyne's caught on to the fact that you're not escorting me, and so I'll probably still have to fight her up ahead.

"noted. if that's the case, I probably won't be able to persuade her otherwise, and you'll just have to get past her fast."

"Alright, will do. I'll see you later, Sans." Frisk waved at him as they passed, heading for Temmie Village's exit.

They had memorized the path through the lanterns and through the dark, so they managed to completely bypass Undyne there. Continuing onto the bridges, they stopped at the base of the sharp mountain. Undyne stood at the top, facing the other way.

"Seven.

"Seven human souls, and King ASGORE will become a god.

"...Six.

"That's how many we've collected thus far." Undyne turned towards them, a glower in her eye. "Understand, Human? Through your seventh and final soul, this world will be transformed."

She turned away again. "First, however, as is customary for those who make it this far… I shall tell you the tragic tale of our people."

As usual, Undyne paused, then Frisk heard a sigh. To their surprise, Undyne took off their helmet early, turning back to them, eye closed. "No, forget it. I'm sick of trying to hide this." They opened their eye, looking straight at them. "Frisk, I… I have to admit I remember the last reset. I remember everything that happened, from the beginning when Chara attacked, to when you reset with the promise to set things right."

She paused, as Frisk took some time to let that sink in. "I know I can't kill you for good, since you can just LOAD. And so far, you've done well on your promise."

Undyne closed their eye, turning away again. "And I don't doubt that you'll keep it as you continue to the castle. No… that's not what I'm stopping you here for. The reason you're being stopped from progressing…"

Suddenly, Undyne summoned a spear, twirling as they turned back towards Frisk, a grin on their face as they pointed it at them. "I want to see your battle skills!"

Frisk stepped back a bit, surprised. "Wait, wha-"

"That's right! I wanna test your mettle and see how tough you are! Because if you're untrained with your magic, you're not gonna stand a chance in a real fight! Sure, you can spare your way through the underground, but what if we leave and you have to fight a human? You're gonna need some practice, Fuhuhu!" She leaped down from her vantage point, the ground thundering as she landed in front of Frisk. "So, you wanna do a quick spar before you continue? You can always just LOAD if you need this time, right?"

Frisk hesitated. "I suppose so…"

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's battle!"

Frisk shrugged, smirking. If Undyne was so intent upon battling, then so be it. They summoned their staff and cape, getting into a battle stance as they stepped away from Undyne. "Alright, sure."

Undyne cackled slightly as she summoned a few spears, grabbing one with her hand. "Fuhuhu… This will be interesting. En garde!"

She sent her spell that turns souls green at Frisk, but, with a twirl of their staff, Frisk blocked it, smirking. "Thanks, Undyne, but that won't be necessary. I got my own magic to block and dodge with this time!"

"Ooh, getting cocky, are we? Alright, show me what you got!"

Undyne summoned several spears, sending them at Frisk at various angles. Surrounding themself with a shield, Frisk deflected the first few before leaping over their shield, staff poised to strike Undyne. Caught slightly off guard, Undyne held up their spear to deflect their strike, but to her surprise Frisk thrust it forward early, creating a powerful force blast that sent Undyne flying backward, and they hit the far wall with a crash.

Frisk paused, choosing not to follow through with their attack. They noticed Undyne stagger a bit as they got up, and so they gave her a moment to stabilize. "You alright?"

Undyne grinned, shaking off any instability and summoning another few spears. "Are you kidding? This is the best fight I've had in a long time, and we haven't even started!" Shouting a battle cry, she charged forward, summoning spears under her feet in front of her and from various other locations, holding one poised in her hand as she charged at surprising speed.

Seeing the oncoming wave of spears, Frisk dodged to the side as Undyne charged past.

Tossing their staff away, Frisk summoned their grapplers, two armored claws shining red around their hands. They reached out with one and grabbed an incoming spear, spinning it around them and sending it back at Undyne. Undyne grinned, deflecting it with her own spear and sending three more at them. Frisk grabbed two of them, yanking them into the ground before narrowly dodging the third.

Undyne summoned a multitude of spears, hovering them behind her. "C'mon, I know you're holding back at this point! Give me all you're worth!"

Frisk hesitated, summoning their shield to protect themselves as the spears were thrown. "I don't know if you could handle it…"

"I don't care! Even if I die, you can just reLOAD, so it doesn't matter how much I can take! It matters how much you can deal!"

Frisk's eyes darkened behind their shield. They summoned some spikes, dismissing the shield as they stood straight, staff clutched in one hand.. "If you insist."

They then thrust into the air as Undyne summoned more spears, tossing their spear out to create a bridge such as they did in their battle with Chara. Summoning their bow, they began to fire countless spears of their own down at Undyne. Simultaneously, they began summoning spikes which they cast down as well.

Undyne had difficulty reflecting all the spears, and the spikes were challenging too. Finally, she leaped into the air with tremendous strength, surrounding herself with spears as she hurtled towards Frisk. Caught off guard, Frisk received a heavy punch to the face, staggering off of their platform as it faded away.

Landing on the ground with a thundering shake, Undyne allowed Frisk to get up from their great fall. "You alright?"

Frisk took a moment to rise, wiping some blood off their cheek. "I'm okay, although that hurt. I can't take many more hits like that though… I only have 20HP."

Undyne paused, eye widening a bit. "Wait… only 20HP?"

"Yeah. Chara had more because she gained LOVE through her runs through the underground. But I've always had 20. ...With the exception of the time I investigated the genocide run that triggered Chara's repetitive killing. But yeah, I've always had 20."

"You must be damn good at dodging to survive all of this, then."

"I wasn't always, but practice makes perfect." Having fully recovered, Frisk summoned their staff again. "I'm ready to continue, if you're up for more."

Undyne grinned, summoning a few more spears. "That's the spirit! Fuhuhu! Now, come here!"

Frisk crouched, igniting their hands in a glowing, red flame as they smirked. "How about you come here?"

Undyne would have been wary in any other case, but they had little to lose here. Charging forward, they thrust a spear at Frisk, who swiftly threw up their staff to parry the stab, before twirling away, the flame in their hands stretching out in all directions, lighting up the battlefield in an elaborate pattern.

Undyne began to back away, before realizing that their only choice if she wanted to strike Frisk was to charge into the flames, and so she did. It scarred her armor a bit, and she got somewhat injured, but it wasn't too bad. She struck a spear at Frisk, but it was blocked at the last moment by a bone extruding from the ground. Frisk stopped their fire pattern to swing their staff at Undyne, but it, too, was blocked by Undyne's spear. The two then spent a few moments in hand-to-hand combat, where Frisk would swing, blocked by Undyne, then Undyne would make a stab that Frisk would parry.

Finally, Frisk used their force blast on the ground underneath them, blasting Undyne backward as they soared into the air. Summoning a large, intricate axe that resembled the burnt pan, they raised it above their head as they began to fall back upon Undyne. Undyne attempted to raise a spear to block the strike, but surprisingly, the axe cleaved straight through her spear, creating a large gash in her armor as Frisk drove it into the ground.

Undyne staggered backward, taken aback by the force of the strike. Frisk dissolved the axe, standing up. While they were having fun, the battle was taking a little longer than they would like, and they wanted to move on and help Gaster fix the core. With this in mind, they offered their hand to Undyne. "How's that for a spar for you?"

Undyne stared at the hand for a moment, then grinned and took it. "That was great. After all the serious fighting done last timeline, that was a nice break for me."

"Glad to hear that was relieving, somehow." Frisk chuckled, walking back towards the SAVE Point. "Well, I should LOAD now, to make up for that lost time. You heard the monsters in the lowest level of Hotland have been evacuated because of the unstable determination there, right?"

Undyne paused. "I'd heard something about it, but I'm not really sure why. Determination should be a good thing, right?"

"It can be, but it's not for monsters, and especially not as an output from the CORE. Apparently an overdose of the very stuff flooding Hotland was what caused Gaster to be erased from the timeline. He wanted to protect the monsters from losing their existences, so it had to be evacuated. I need to get to the CORE to help him handle the determination excess there, and acquire access to the control room."

"That… that was explained a lot better than Alphys does it." Undyne grinned. "Anyways, thanks again for the spar. A couple notes, if you're okay with it?"

Frisk had their hand on the SAVE star, but withdrew it to allow Undyne to speak. "Sure, go ahead."

"I would suggest trying to improve your attack and defense stats. If you have to fight another human, chances are high that they'll have higher levels on both than you will, and that puts you at a disadvantage, even with your ranging magical capabilities and your ability to RESET. I might also suggest you think about developing a special attack, such as those that Sans and Papyrus have."

Frisk smiled. "I'll take it into consideration. Thanks, Undyne."

And with that, the ebb of time warped, and jumped back to before the battle.

* * *

 **Three months later….**

 **It's done. Took far longer to finish it than I honestly should have, but It's done.**

 **Also, if you haven't noticed, we've reached 100 favorites as well. Even though this story is getting close to being 2 years old, that still blows my mind. I'm so honored to have so many people enjoy this little work of mine enough to put it on their favorites list.**

 **Enough jabber from me though, let's get to the real business.**

 **As always, I wouldn't expect a consistent upload rate, or at least a fast one. If this story interests you enough to want to continue reading to the end (which will [eventually] happen, I'm determined enough for that), don't forget to follow the story so you can be notified when a new chapter pops up every two to five months. (Or less. That works too.)**

 **Regardless, thank you so much for reading, and I'll see you all next time!**


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